CEDH · CASELAW;CLIN;ENG — 4 janvier 2008

.s3ABFC313 { font-size:10pt } .sEB86A30B { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:14pt; page-break-after:avoid } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .sA241FE93 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:18pt; text-align:justify; page-break-after:avoid; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-bottom:1pt } .s2EF62ED2 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:12pt } .s4DDA3AA3 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; font-style:italic } .s29100277 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .s32563E28 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .s8F2B0B1B { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:12pt; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12pt } .s9FF10068 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:12pt } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } .s5F48796F { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify } .s5CB9E8AB { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify; border-bottom:1pt solid #000000; padding-bottom:1pt } .sDF790F1E { margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center } .s7ED160F0 { text-decoration:none } .s3DC36BA9 { font-family:Arial; text-decoration:underline; color:#0069d6 } Information Note on the Court’s case-law No. 104 January 2008 Barsom and Varli v. Sweden - 40766/06 Decision 4.1.2008 [Section III] Article 6 Article 6-3-c Defence through legal assistance Refusal of legal aid to contest tax surcharge: inadmissible   Facts : The applicants owned a restaurant. Their tax returns for 2002 and 2003 were revised on the basis of an audit carried out in respect of the restaurant. Consequently, tax surcharges were also imposed on them directly. The applicants appealed against that decision to the County Administrative Court and applied for legal aid on account of their poor financial situation and incomplete knowledge of the Swedish language and legal system. Since tax surcharges were considered to fall within the criminal sphere of Article   6, the applicants argued that they were entitled to free legal assistance. Inadmissible : Article   6   §   3   (c) guaranteed the right to free legal assistance to persons charged with a criminal offence under two conditions: that the person concerned lacked sufficient means to pay for legal assistance and that the “interests of justice” so required. The second condition was to be judged by taking into account the seriousness of the offence, the severity of the possible sentence, the complexity of the case and the personal situation of the accused. The applicants’ case concerned the assessment of their relatively straightforward tax surcharges and they had never faced a risk of being deprived of their liberty. Both applicants had lived in Sweden for almost 30 years and were businessmen who owned and ran a restaurant. It was therefore highly unlikely that they would not be able to present their case and arguments adequately, without legal assistance, before the national courts. Moreover, under the domestic law the Swedish administrative courts had an obligation to direct the parties on how to supplement their case-file and to ensure that the circumstances of each case were clarified to the extent that its character demanded. In the light of the above, legal aid was not indispensable for the applicants’ effective access to court or for the effective presentation of their case.   © Council of Europe/European Court of Human Rights This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court. Click here for the Case-Law Information Notes