CEDH · PRESS;GENERAL;ENG — 16 juin 2005

.s800EAC49 { font-size:12pt } .sFE10DC93 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center } .s29100277 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .s40F41F73 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:right } .s32563E28 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .s7ED160F0 { text-decoration:none } .s33165EBA { font-family:Arial; font-size:8pt; vertical-align:super; color:#0069d6 } .s4DDA3AA3 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; font-style:italic } .sADADF4A7 { font-family:Arial; text-decoration:underline } .sCB9E0544 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:left } .s9F8EB0C0 { width:18.63pt; display:inline-block } .s9E97F54A { width:85.05pt; display:inline-block } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } .sF6A12959 { width:33%; height:1px; text-align:left } .s2EB42ED2 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt } .s653E6C45 { font-family:Arial; font-size:6.67pt; vertical-align:super; color:#0069d6 } EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS 337 16.6.2005   Press release issued by the Registrar   Chamber judgment concerning Albania   The European Court of Human Rights has today notified in writing the following Chamber judgment which is not final [1] .     Balliu v. Albania (application no 74727/01) No violation of Article 6 §§1 and 3 c) and d) The applicant, Taulant Balliu, is an Albanian national who was born in 1971 and is currently detained in Peqin Prison (Albania).   In criminal proceedings against armed gangs operating during the political turmoil in Albania from March to September 1997, the Elbasan public prosecutor’s office accused the applicant of being one of the instigators of an armed gang known as the “Kateshi Gang”.   In 1999 he was charged with five counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, one count of possession of military weapons and one count of creating and participating in an armed gang. During the criminal proceedings, the applicant’s lawyer did not attend several of the court hearings. On 15 February 2000 the Durrës District Court found the applicant guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment. He appealed unsuccessfully.   The applicant complained under Article 6 §§ 1 and 3 (c) and (d) of the European Convention on Human Rights that he had been denied a fair hearing as he had not been duly defended through legal assistance and that he had not been able to question certain witnesses or to obtain the appearance of witnesses on his behalf.   Having regard to the circumstances of the case, the European Court of Human Rights found that the authorities had adequately discharged their obligation to provide legal assistance, both by adjourning the hearings in order to give the applicant’s counsel an opportunity to fulfil his duty and by appointing a lawyer under the legal-aid scheme. Bearing in mind also the authorities’ obligation under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention to conduct the proceedings “within a reasonable time”, the circumstances of the applicant’s representation during his trial did not disclose a failure to provide legal assistance as required by Article 6 § 3 (c) or a denial of a fair hearing under paragraph 1 of that provision. Accordingly, the Court held unanimously that there had been no violation of Article 6 § 3 (c).   Moreover, at the hearings both the applicant and his counsel, when confronted with the witnesses for the prosecution, had had the opportunity to put questions to them, though they had chosen not to do so: the applicant’s lawyer by being absent and the applicant by remaining silent. Accordingly, it could not be said that the authorities had failed to comply with their duty under Article 6 §§ 1 and 3 (d) to afford the applicant sufficient opportunity to question witnesses at the trial. (The judgment is available only in English.)     ***   This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court. The full texts of the Court’s judgments are accessible on its Internet site ( http://www.echr.coe.int ).   Registry of the European Court of Human Rights F – 67075 Strasbourg Cedex Press contacts:   Roderick Liddell (telephone: +00 33 (0)3 88 41 24 92)   Emma Hellyer (telephone: +00 33 (0)3 90 21 42 15)   Stéphanie Klein (telephone: +00 33 (0)3 88 41 21 54) Fax: +00 33 (0)3 88 41 27 91   The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg by the Council of Europe Member States in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights. Since 1 November 1998 it has sat as a full-time Court composed of an equal number of judges to that of the States party to the Convention. The Court examines the admissibility and merits of applications submitted to it. It sits in Chambers of 7 judges or, in exceptional cases, as a Grand Chamber of 17 judges. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe supervises the execution of the Court’s judgments. [1] Under Article 43 of the European Convention on Human Rights, within three months from the date of a Chamber judgment, any party to the case may, in exceptional cases, request that the case be referred to the 17 ‑ member Grand Chamber of the Court. In that event, a panel of five judges considers whether the case raises a serious question affecting the interpretation or application of the Convention or its protocols, or a serious issue of general importance, in which case the Grand Chamber will deliver a final judgment. If no such question or issue arises, the panel will reject the request, at which point the judgment becomes final. Otherwise Chamber judgments become final on the expiry of the three-month period or earlier if the parties declare that they do not intend to make a request to refer.