Paper 3.3a - Article 6 Flashcards
What is Article 6?
Article 6 is the legislation that sets out the human right to fair trial.
What is in Article 6(1)? (2 points)
- A6(1) states that everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time.
- It also states that the trial must be heard by a fair and impartial tribunal; in Pinochet, Lord Hoffman failed to disclose his membership in Amnesty International, meaning that the applicant’s Article 6 right was violated.
What is one exception to Article 6(1): ‘everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing’? Why is this looked upon negatively?
Public - Secret trials can, and do, happen to protect matters of national security.
An important part of Article 6 is that ‘justice must be seen to be done’, which is violated by secret trials.
What is meant by equality of arms and what is the case study for this?
Parties must be on the same footing (in terms of legal aide)
Steel & Morris or ‘McLibel’.
ALSO Guilford Four - four men falsely imprisoned by undisclosed evidence.
What is disclosure and how does it lead to a fair trial under Article 6?
Parties exchange all evidence they have collected and present it to the court in a pre-trial hearing (can be skipped in matters of national security).
Leads to a fair trial by ensuring that neither party can catch the other off-guard by hiding facts from them, or ‘equality of arms’.
What does A6(2) state?
A suspect is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by the prosecution.
What 5 rights does A6(3)(a-e) afford to individuals charged with a crime?
a) Reason - ‘informed promptly in a language they understand the reason they have been arrested.’
b) Time - ‘adequate time and facilities to prepare their defence.’
c) Right to a Solicitor - ‘defend himself […] or through legal assistance of his own choosing.’
d) Cross-examination - ‘to examine witnesses or have witnessed examined’.
e) Translator - ‘the free assistance of an interpreter’.
What is the right to silence?
D has the right to not self-incriminate by remaining silent at police interviews; however adverse inferences can be drawn from this.
Evaluate the positive aspects of Article 6.
- Suspects without legal knowledge are protected by trained duty solicitors.
- Secret courts are necessary to uphold national security.
- Equality of arms ensures poorer Ds are not bullied by richer Cs.
- Public court hearings allow media to highlight failures in the justice system.
Evaluate the negative aspects of Article 6.
- Trials are not held promptly (16 000 on remand), with liberty deprived.
- Media coverage of trials can skew juries in high profile cases.
- Non disclosure has led to notable failures in justice (Guildford Four and Liam Allen).
- Cuts to legal aid has increased number of self-represented Ds; inequality of arms?
