France was condemned Thursday, September 9 by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for having taken fifteen months to send a man the full judgment of his sentence, an "
anomaly
" according to the ECHR.
Read alsoTwo former French detainees at Guantanamo seize the ECHR
The applicant, born in 1926, was sentenced in July 2012 by the correctional court of Albertville (Savoie) to three years in prison in a case of concealment of precious objects, according to a press release from the Court.
He immediately appealed, without however having the full judgment and the reasons for his conviction, which his lawyer had only obtained in October 2013, fifteen months later.
Counsel relied in particular on a previous judgment of the ECHR rendered in 2007 against France in a similar case, arguing "
that such a failure to communicate constituted a violation of Article 6 of the
European
Convention
" on Human Rights ( right to a fair trial), recalls the Court.
While the defendant had obtained a partial discharge at first instance, the judgment of March 2014 of the Court of Appeal of Chambéry found him guilty, however, because of his age, replacing the prison sentence with a fine of 100,000. euros. "
The original of the duly motivated judgment should have been filed with the court registry within three days of its delivery
", notes the Court, which refers to an "
anomaly
". The applicant had "the
only way out of appealing without knowing any element of the motivation adopted by the court
", which exposed him "
to the possible aggravation of his sentence
" on appeal without being able to "
measure his chances of success
" , points out the Court.
Read alsoThe ECHR rejects the request of 672 firefighters against the vaccination obligation
Concluding that there has been a violation of Article 6, it recalls that the reasons for a judgment or a judgment "
penalizing a person
" must be "
communicated in good time
" in order to be able to challenge these decisions "
in full knowledge of the facts
" .
France will have to pay 5,000 euros to the applicant for costs and expenses.