The conviction of a defendant without all the relevant document having been presented to the court violates the fair trial

JUDGMENT

Scavetta v. Monaco 30-5-2017 (no. 33301/13)

see here

SUMMARY

Fair trial. Evidence. Failure to produce documents. Failure to produce critical documents, such as the investigator’s findings and the prosecutor’s written conclusions in connection with the conviction of the accused, violates his right to a fair trial.

PROVISION

Article 6 § 1

PRINCIPAL FACTS

The applicant, Mr Giuseppe Scavetta, is an Italian national who was born in 1955 and lives in Monaco.

The case concerned a failure to communicate to the Review Court a report by the reporting judge and the written conclusions of the representative of the prosecutor’s office.
In 2005 Mr Scavetta advised some longstanding acquaintances of his (A.A., F.A. and M.T.) to purchase a French company manufacturing costume jewellery through the intermediary of a holding company, “FH Finances”, which he invited them to set up. The individuals in question, together with Mr Scavetta, duly set up the FH Finances company with its head office in France and X.B. as its president. In July 2006 FH Finances bought up all the shares in the jewellery manufacturing company. In November 2007 A.A., F.A., M.T. and FH Finances lodged a complaint, together with an application to join the proceedings as civil parties, against Mr Scavetta for misappropriation and fraud. A judicial investigation was instigated.

In June 2011 a Monegasque investigating judge of Monaco gave a decision declining jurisdiction, and ordered the partial termination of the proceedings. The judge only examined the facts relating to embezzlement perpetrated in favour of the Monegasque company IET, which was responsible for managing, from its Monaco head office, the other two companies based in France. Mr Scarvetta was brought before the criminal court for misappropriation. By judgment of 17 January 2012 the Monaco Criminal Court found that Mr Scarvetta had never provided any documentary evidence of the expenditure which had allegedly been incurred and that a sum of EUR 25,000 had been paid into his personal account, solely for his own benefit. The court found him guilty and sentenced him to one year’s imprisonment. Mr Scarvetta and the public prosecutor appealed against that judgment. The Court of Appeal upheld it, although it reduced the sentence. Mr Scarvetta lodged an appeal on points of law.

The Prosecutor General submitted his conclusions on 3 December 2012. On 5 December 2012 the registry sent a copy of those conclusions to the First President of the Review Court, the reporting judge and two Monegasque lawyers, Mr C. Lecuyer and Mr G. Gazo, in their capacity as “avocats-défenseurs” (defence lawyers). In accordance with usual practice in the Review Court, a reporting judge drew up a report for the members of the Review Court, subject to secrecy of the deliberations.

By judgment of 24 January 2013 the Review Court dismissed Mr Scarvetta’s appeal on points of law.

The judgment explicitly concerned Mr Scarvetta, mentioning that he had “appeared in person, defended by the litigation lawyer Mr Gaston Carrasco, practising in Nice” and citing the names of the parties claiming damages in the proceedings and their representative, Mr Gazo, “avocat-défenseur” with the Court of Appeal.
Relying in particular on Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial), the applicant complained of the failure to communicate to the Review Court a report by the reporting judge and the written conclusions of the representative of the prosecutor’s office.

THE DECISION OF THE COURT

Violation of Article 6 § 15

Just satisfaction: The Court held that the finding of a violation constituted in itself sufficient just satisfaction for the non-pecuniary prejudice sustained by Mr Scarvetta. It awarded him EUR 3,000 for costs and expenses.


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