Article 6: Right to a Fair Trial

1. In the determination of his civil rights and obligations or of any criminal charge against him, everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law. Judgment shall be pronounced publicly, but the press and public may be excluded from all or part of the trial in the interests of morals, public order or national security in a democratic society, where the interests of juveniles or the protection of the private life of the parties so require, or to the extent strictly necessary in the opinion of the court in special circumstances where publicity would prejudice the interests of justice.

2. Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law.

3. Everyone charged with a criminal offence has the following minimum rights -
(a) to be informed promptly, in a language which he or she understands and in detail, of the nature and cause of the accusation against him;

(b) to have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defence;

(c) to defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choosing or, if he has not sufficient means to pay for legal assistance, to be given it free when the interests of justice so require;

(d) to examine or have examined witnesses against him and to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on his behalf under the same conditions as witnesses against him;

(e) to have the free assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand or speak the language used in court.

Article 6 is an absolute right. It guarantees your right to a fair hearing in civil and criminal proceedings. It sets standards for the way that proceedings are run. Although you may feel that you have not had a fair trial if you lose your case, there will only be a breach of Article 6 if these standards have not been met.

Criminal proceedings are when someone is prosecuted for an offence. Under Article 6 criminal proceedings have a wider meaning than they usually have in English law. Under Article 6 cases against people for contempt of court or for not paying their council tax count as criminal proceedings.

In addition to criminal proceedings, article 6 applies to the ‘determination of your civil rights and obligations’. This includes civil proceedings, such as a claim for damages, or tribunal proceedings, such as a claim for unfair dismissal in the Employment Tribunal, or an appeal against an immigration decision in the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal

It can also include other situation where there is a dispute about your civil rights or obligations and where the outcome of that dispute is going to be decisive. So for instance, in Le Compte v Belgium, the ECHR held that a hearing before a medical disciplinary panel engaged Article 6 because the panel had the power to permanently revoke the applicant’s licence to practice medicine, which would amount to a decisive determination of his civil right to practice medicine.

Certain standards apply in both criminal and civil proceedings. These rights include:

The right to a trial within a reasonable time.
The right to an independent and impartial judge or tribunal.
The right to a public hearing (although there are circumstances when the public can be excluded)
The right to a public judgment (although this may be restricted in certain types of cases, e.g. family cases.)

In civil proceedings Article 6 also protects the right to take court proceedings to settle a dispute, although this right may be restricted in some circumstances. It may also give the right to legal aid where the dispute is very complicated and you are at a disadvantage because you cannot afford a lawyer.

There are further rights in criminal proceedings. These include:

The right to be presumed innocent until you have been proved to be guilty.
The right to be informed at a very early stage what the accusation against you is.
The right not to be forced to answer questions, although the court may be able to draw conclusions from your failure to answer questions.
The right to adequate time to prepare your defence.
The right to have legal aid for a lawyer if you cannot afford one and it is in the interests of justice for you to have one.
The right to be present at your trial.
The right to put your side of the case at your trial.
The right to question the main witnesses against you and to call witnesses of your own
The right to an interpreter if you need one.

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