Defendant Archives

The pre-trial testimony of a co-accused, whο the accused could not examine, affected the amount of his sentence. Application of article 6 par. 3 regarding the testimony of a co-accused!

Article 6 - Par. 1
02/08/2021 19:41

JUDGMENT Dodoja v. Croatia 24.06.2021 (app. no. 53587/17) see here SUMMARY Conviction of an accused based on the pre-trial testimony of his co-accused who did not appear at the hearing. Evidence, compensatory factors. Strict punishment and a fair trial. The applicant pleaded guilty to drug trafficking but not to the extent for which he was […]

The sentence of life imprisonment under the “microscope” of the ECHR

Article 3
27/06/2021 17:44

GRAND CHAMBER JUDGMENT Hutchinson v. United Kingdom 17.01.2017 (app. no. 57592/08) see here SUMMARY The case concerned the complaint of a man serving a whole life sentence for murder that his sentence amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment as he had no hope of release. In a previous judgment, in the case of Vinter and […]

Refusal of the national court to allow the accused to examine prosecution and defense witnesses! Violation of a fair trial

Article 6 - Par. 1
13/03/2021 16:33

JUDGMENT Keskin v. The Netherlands 19.01.2021 (app.no. 2205/16) see here SUMMARY Defendant’s right to be examined by prosecution and defense witnesses. Fair trial, equality of arms. Compensatory factors and their criteria. According to the Court’s case-law, all evidence against it must be presented in the presence of the accused at a public hearing for the […]

The voluntary resignation of a suspect from his right to be represented by a lawyer at the interrogation does not constitute a violation of a fair trial

Article 6 - Par. 1
07/03/2021 09:33

JUDGMENT Fariz Ahmadov v. Azerbaijan 14.01.2021 (app. no. 40321/07) see here SUMMARY Resignation of a suspect in the pre-trial from the right of representation by a lawyer. Representation by a lawyer and a fair trial. The applicant was sentenced by an irrevocable decision for drug possession. During the pre-trial period he voluntarily resigned from the […]

Non-release of the well-known opposition politician Selahattin Demirtaş in Turkey. The Court orders his immediate release!

Article 10
23/02/2021 10:23

GRAND CHAMBER DECISION Selahattin Demirtaş v. Turkey 22.12.2020 (no. 2) (app. no. 14305/17) see here SUMMARY The case concerned the arrest and pre-trial detention of Mr Selahattin Demirtaş, who at the time of the events was one of the co-chairs of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), a left-wing pro-Kurdish political party. The Court found in […]

The Court did not acquit a member of the SS who was accused of being involved in 300,000 murders!

Article 6
20/12/2020 09:40

JUDGMENT
Gröning v. Germany 2.11.2020 (app. no. 71591/17)
The case concerned a complaint by a former member of the SS about the length of the criminal
proceedings against him for assisting in murder in the Auschwitz extermination camp.
The applicant was questioned in 1978 while being investigated by the Frankfurt public prosecutor’s
office for crimes committed when serving in the Auschwitz extermination camp. The investigation
was discontinued in 1985. The applicant was questioned again in 2014 after the the Hannover public
prosecutor’s office initiated an investigation and he was convicted in 2015. He argued that the
proceedings had been running since 1978 because the authorities had failed to notify him of the
discontinuation decision in 1985, making the proceedings excessively lengthy.

Lack of impartiality of the court when in a trial for revealing state secrets 1/3 of the jurors were related to secret services!

Article 10
11/12/2020 18:20

JUDGMENT
Danilov v. Russia 01.12.2020 (app. no. 88/05)
Jurors, principle of impartiality and the right to examine witnesses.
A famous physicist was found guilty of treason for revealing state secrets. The applicant complained of jury bias and that his restrictions on the examination of witnesses meant that he did not have access to a fair trial.
The ECtHR found that bias issues were identified in the composition of the jury as 4 of the 12 jurors carried “state security clearance”. The national court should therefore have considered this issue in detail. The failure of the courts to do so violated the ECHR.

The civil liability of an acquitted driver for driving under the influence of alcohol did not violate his presumption of innocence

Article 6 - Par. 2
10/12/2020 19:58

JUDGMENT
Ilias Papageorgiou v. Greece 10.12.2020 (app. no. 44101/13)
Presumption of innocence and civil trials. Civil decisions against the applicant despite the fact that he was acquitted in criminal proceedings for the same facts. The applicant was involved in a car accident and his passenger was injured. He took two breathalyzer tests, with scores of 0.67 and 0.57 mg / l, but was later acquitted by the criminal court for driving under the influence of alcohol.
Lawsuit of the passenger against the applicant and his insurance company. The insurance company brought an action against the applicant. The civil court of first instance ordered the applicant and the insurance company to pay compensation to the passenger, but rejected the insurance company’s claim against the applicant. On appeal, the Athens Court of Appeal ruled that it was not bound by the applicant’s acquittal in the criminal courts and that, under the terms of the insurance contract, the applicant’s conduct relieved the insurance company of its liability. The Supreme Court held that Article 6 § 2 of the ECHR did not require the civil courts to be bound by the judgment of the criminal courts and therefore the Court of Appeal had not questioned the presumption of innocence of the applicant.

The Athens Court of Appeals did not take into account a affidavit that had not been submitted in accordance with the Code of Civil Procedure. Non-violation of access to court as its content emerged from the testimony of a witness at the hearing precedures

Article 6 - Par. 1
19/11/2020 15:23

The applicants in this case considered that the refusal by the court of appeal and the Court of
Cassation to take account of evidence which they considered as decisive for the outcome of the case
had been excessively formalistic. Those courts had considered that the documents in question had
not been presented to the court of appeal in accordance with the requirements of Article 240 of the
Greek Code of Civil Procedure.

Conviction of the accused of drug trafficking after police instigation and trapping. Violation of fair trial

Article 6 - Par. 1
30/10/2020 19:50

JUDGMENT Akbay and others v. Germany 15.10.2020 (app. no. 40495/15, 40913/15 and 37273/15) see here SUMMARY Fair trial and police trapping. The applicants were convicted of importing and trafficking drugs. In order to commit the crime, they were instigated by an undercover police officer who encouraged them to commit the act, allegedly providing them with […]

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