ECHR Judgment (Merits and Just Satisfaction) – Violation of Art. 3; Violation of Art. 5-4; No violation of Art. 6-3-c; No violation of Art. 6-3-b; Non-pecuniary damage – financial award.
The applicant wished to be represented by his mother and sister. His request that they be permitted to appear for him was refused on the basis that the case required special legal knowledge and professional experience. At paras 65 and 66 the court said: ‘Article 6(3)(c) guarantees that proceedings against the accused will not take place without an adequate representation for the defence, but does not give the accused the right to decide himself in what manner his defence should be assured. The decision as to which of the two alternatives mentioned in the provision should be chosen, namely the applicant’s right to defend himself in person or to be represented by a lawyer of his own choosing, or in certain circumstances one appointed by the court, depends upon the applicable legislation or rules of court.
Notwithstanding the importance of a relationship of confidence between lawyer and client, the right to choose one’s own Counsel cannot be considered to be absolute. It is necessarily subject to certain limitations where free legal aid is concerned, and also where it is for the courts to decide whether the interests of justice require that the accused be defended by Counsel appointed by them. When appointing defence Counsel, the national courts must certainly have regard to the defendant’s wishes. However, they can override those wishes when there are relevant and sufficient grounds for holding that this is necessary in the interests of justice.’
Citations:
63378/00, [2005] ECHR 32, (2006) 43 EHRR 38
Links:
Jurisdiction:
Human Rights
Cited by:
Cited – Maguire, 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, Criminal Practice
Updated: 19 October 2022; Ref: scu.227639
