(Commission) The applicant complained that the court had refused to allow him to withdraw his plea of guilty: ‘It is in the first place for the domestic authorities to determine rules regulating procedural aspects of criminal proceedings, subject to the supervisory jurisdiction of the Convention organs in considering the fairness of proceedings (cf. the Commission’s approach in No. 12002/86, Dec. 8.3.88, D.R. 55p.218).
The Commission considers that a rule which militates against changes of pleas which are unequivocal and voluntary cannot be said to compromise the fairness of proceedings as such. The Commission will therefore consider the impact of the refusal to permit the applicant to change his plea on the proceedings as a whole.’
Citations:
23094/93
Statutes:
European Convention on Human Rights 6
Jurisdiction:
Human Rights
Cited by:
Cited – Revitt, Borg and Barnes v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 8-Sep-2006
The defendants appealed against refusal of leave to withdraw their pleas of guilty. They argued that the current practice infringed their human rights.
Held: The magistrates had been correct not to allow the defendants to withdraw their pleas. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Human Rights, Criminal Practice
Updated: 27 June 2022; Ref: scu.244870