Scope of article 6 of the European convention on human rights-contribution of the European court of human rights practice

Abstract

Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) contains a series of guarantees that together represent the right to a fair trial. According to the ECHR case law Article 6 of the European Convention applies to proceedings concerning "civil rights and obligations", as well as to proceedings concerning the "criminal charge" (autonomous concepts from Courts practice). According to the linguistic interpretation of the Convention, as well as the earlier practice of the European Court, the guarantees of the right to a fair trial refer only to the accused in the criminal proceedings. However, under the influence of the tendency to protect the rights of the injured party in criminal proceedings, which was promoted by the Council of Europe, the practice of the Court, by applying the "convention as a living instrument" principle, extends the scope of the application of Article 6 to the injured party. The authors deal with a critical analysis of the relevant case law of the Court in this domain, as well as the implications to the national law on the position of the injured party in the criminal proceedings.