K v Denmark: ECHR 5 May 1993

A lawyer, Mr Reindel, was appointed by the High Court to act as defence counsel for the applicant. It was then discovered that Mr Reindel was to be called as a witness and his appointment was rescinded and another lawyer was appointed in his stead. At para 2 ECmHR said this in relation to article 6.3(c): ‘The Commission recalls that the right to legal representation of one’s own choosing ensured by this provision is not of an absolute nature (cf for example No 5923/72, Dec 30.5.75, DR 3, p 43) and it does not guarantee the right to choose an official defence counsel who is appointed by the court (cf No 6946/75, Dec 6.7.76, DR 6, p 114). In examining this question under article 6 para 3(c) (article 6-3-c) of the Convention the Commission must take account of the situation of the defence as a whole rather than the position of the accused taken in isolation, having regard in particular to the principle of equality of arms as included in the concept of a fair hearing. Thus article 6 para 3(c) (article 6-3-c) of the Convention guarantees that the proceedings against the accused shall not take place without adequate representation for the defence, but does not give the accused the right to decide himself in what manner his defence should be assured (cf for example No 8295/78, Dec 9.10.78, DR 15 p 242).’

Citations:

19524/92, [1993] ECHR 67, CE:ECHR:1993:0210DEC001818791

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

European Convention on Human Rights

Jurisdiction:

Human Rights

Cited by:

CitedMaguire, Re Application for Judicial Review (Northern Ireland) SC 21-Mar-2018
The appellant faced a criminal trial. He was granted legal aid for two counsel. He asked for two particular junior counsel, but the certificate required him to instruct leading counsel and a junior. He objected that this deprived him of the right to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Human Rights

Updated: 20 October 2022; Ref: scu.660782