Piersack v Belgium: ECHR 1 Oct 1982

Hudoc applicant convicted of murder complained that his right to a fair trial under Article 6(1) had been denied because the trial court had been presided over by a Judge who, when senior deputy procureur, had been in charge of the department which decided to prosecute the applicant.
Held: ‘Whilst impartiality normally denotes absence of prejudice or bias, its existence or otherwise can, notably under Article 6(1) of the Convention, be tested in various ways. A distinction can be drawn in this context between a subjective approach, that is endeavouring to ascertain the personal conviction of a given judge in a given case, and an objective approach, that is determining whether he offered guarantees sufficient to exclude any legitimate doubt in this respect.’ The Court acknowledged the principle of restitutio in integrum.
Hudoc Judgment (Just satisfaction) Costs and expenses award – domestic proceedings; Costs and expenses award – Convention proceedings

8692/79, [1982] ECHR 6, [1984] ECHR 16, (1984) 7 EHRR 251, (1982) 5 EHRR 169
Worldlii, Worldlii, Bailii, Bailii
European Convention on Human Rights 6
Human Rights
Cited by:
CitedGreenfield, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department HL 16-Feb-2005
The appellant had been charged with and disciplined for a prison offence. He was refused legal assistance at his hearing, and it was accepted that the proceedings involved the determination of a criminal charge within the meaning of article 6 of the . .
CitedIn Re Medicaments and Related Classes of Goods (No 2); Director General of Fair Trading v Proprietary Association of Great Britain and Proprietary Articles Trade Association CA 21-Dec-2000
The claimants alleged that a connection between a member of the Restrictive Practices Court, who was to hear a complaint and another company, disclosed bias against them. She had not recused herself.
Held: When asking whether material . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Human Rights, Damages

Updated: 23 December 2021; Ref: scu.164906