CEDH · PRESS;HEARINGS;ENG — 16 novembre 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 } .s4DDA3AA3 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; font-style:italic } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } .s7ED160F0 { text-decoration:none } .s653E6C45 { font-family:Arial; font-size:6.67pt; vertical-align:super; color:#0069d6 } .sCB9E0544 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:left } .s69BE285C { margin-top:0pt; margin-left:85.05pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-indent:-85.05pt } .s9A223E1B { width:11.03pt; text-indent:0pt; display:inline-block } .s595A57E4 { width:85.05pt; text-indent:0pt; display:inline-block } .s3CED24E9 { width:27.05pt; text-indent:0pt; display:inline-block } .s9F8EB0C0 { width:18.63pt; display:inline-block } .s9E97F54A { width:85.05pt; display:inline-block } .sF6A12959 { width:33%; height:1px; text-align:left } .s2EB42ED2 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt } EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS   619 16.11.2005   Press release issued by the Registrar   GRAND CHAMBER HEARING MARTINIE v. FRANCE   The European Court of Human Rights is holding a Grand Chamber hearing today, Wednesday 16 November 2005 at 9 a.m., in the case of Martinie v. France (application no. 58675/00).   The applicant   The case concerns an application brought by Michel Martinie, a French national who was born in 1948 and lives in Papeete (France). At the material time he was the accountant for the Lycée René Cassin in Bayonne.   Summary of the facts   In June 1987 the Lycée René Cassin and the French Federation of Basque Pelota set up a Basque Pelota National Training Centre (CNEA) which would allow young athletes to continue studying during their training. The headmaster of the school was the director of the CNEA and authorising officer in respect of expenditure, and the applicant, who was appointed general secretary, was the accountant. In December 1987 the headmaster instituted a fixed monthly allowance in favour of the director of the CNEA and its general secretary.   On 17 October 1997 the Aquitaine Regional Audit Office declared that the applicant owed the school more than 221,000 francs (FRF) in payments made by the applicant in his capacity as public accountant of the school for the years 1989 to 1993. Those payments concerned, among other things, the fixed monthly allowance and holiday compensation paid to the headmaster of the school in his capacity as director of the CNEA and to the applicant himself as general secretary. In its judgment the regional audit office noted that those allowances had not been granted by the board of governors of the lycée René-Cassin – despite the fact that it was the only body with power to set up a system of allowances – and pointed out that “the public accountant must satisfy himself that the documents he submits in support of the payments for which he takes charge are issued by the appropriate authority”.   On an appeal by the applicant, the Court of Audit gave judgment on 20   October 1998 upholding the main provisions of the regional audit office’s judgment but reducing the amount payable to about FRF   191,900. In a decision of 22 October 1999 the Conseil d’Etat declared an appeal on points of law lodged by the applicant “inadmissible”.   Complaint   Relying on Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair hearing) of the European Convention on Human Rights, the applicant complains that the proceedings before the Court of Audit were unfair because the reporting judge’s report was not communicated prior to the hearing and the reporting judge participated in the court bench’s deliberations. He complains further that he was neither summoned to the hearing nor invited to submit observations, nor even informed of the date of the hearing, which, moreover, was not public. Lastly, the applicant complains that the Government Commissioner participated in the deliberations of the Conseil d’Etat .   Procedure   The application was lodged on 15 February 1999 and declared partly admissible on 13 January 2004. On 3 May 2005, the Chamber to which the case had been allocated, relinquished jurisdiction in favour of the Grand Chamber, under Article 30 [1] of the Convention.   Composition of the Court   The case will be heard by the Grand Chamber composed as follows:   Luzius Wildhaber (Swiss), President , Christos Rozakis (Greek), Jean-Paul Costa (French), Nicolas Bratza (United Kingdom), Boštjan M. Zupančič (Slovenian), Lucius Caflisch (Swiss) [2] , Ireneu Cabral Barreto (Portuguese) Françoise Tulkens (Belgian), Peer Lorenzen (Danish), Karel Jungwiert (Czech), Volodymyr Butkevych (Ukrainian), András Baka (Hungarian), Rait Maruste (Estonian), Snejana Botoucharova (Bulgarian), Antonella Mularoni (San Marinese), Elisabet Fura-Sandström (Swedish), judges , Khanlar Hajiyev (Azerbaijani), Alvina Gyulumyan (Armenian), Javier Borrego Borrego (Spanish), Dragoljub Popović (citizen of Serbia and Montenegro), substitute judges , and also Lawrence Early , Deputy Grand Chamber Registrar .   Representatives of the parties   Government :   Edwige Belliard , Agent ,   Anne-Françoise Tissier , Catherine Joly , Bruno Genevois , Jean-Yves Bertucci , Olivier Ortiz , Advisers ;   Applicant :   Martin Meyer , Véronique Lechevallier , Counsel .   After the hearing the Court will begin its deliberations, which are held in private.     ***     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)   Beverley Jacobs (telephone: +00 33 (0)3 90 21 54 21) 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. More detailed information about the Court and its activities can be found on its Internet site. [1] Where a case pending before a Chamber raises a serious question affecting the interpretation of the Convention or the protocols thereto, or where the resolution of a question before the Chamber might have a result inconsistent with a judgment previously delivered by the Court, the Chamber may, at any time before it has rendered its judgment, relinquish jurisdiction in favour of the Grand Chamber, unless one of the parties to the case objects. [2] Judge elected in respect of Liechtenstein.