The applicability of article 6 of the European Convention on human rights when the victim joins criminal proceedings as a civil party
The applicability of article 6 of the European Convention on human rights when the victim joins criminal proceedings as a civil party

Summary/Abstract: The applicability of article 6 of the Convention in its civil limb when the victim joins the criminal proceedings as a civil party might seem like a straightforward issue, but in fact the caselaw of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights proves otherwise. In this paper I mainly address the changes brought by the delivery of the Grand Chamber judgment of Fabbri and others v. San Marino. Essentially, applications before the court on this topic will be divided in three categories. Firstly, when the criminal proceedings were discontinued for reasons which are not arbitrary or manifestly unreasonable, the applicant must follow the subsequent civil avenue at his disposal. Otherwise, they may not invoke the breach of article 6 of the Convention. Secondly, when criminal proceedings were discontinued due to a system failure or dysfunction within the national legal system, a violation of article 6 of the Convention may only be found if the applicant did not contribute to this outcome by negligence or a passive conduct. If they did not act diligently in order to obtain compensation within the criminal trial, they must follow the subsequent civil action available as per national law. Thirdly, if criminal proceedings were discontinued due to a systemic dysfunction within the national legal order and the applicant diligently pursued this avenue for redress, it is possible that article 6 of the Convention was violated. This system ensures a predictable and reasonable approach when it comes to the applicability of article 6 of the Convention in its civil limb when the civil party joins the criminal proceedings.

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