Case of Ignat vs. Romania: some observations and interpretations on the content of fair trial

Abstract

The case clarifies a complex legal issue regarding the possibility of identifying the elements of a fair hearing in accordance with the requirements of Article 6, paragraph 1 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in light of the contrary decisions advanced by the court of first instance and by the court of last instance in regard to the guilt of the plaintiff, in this respect being instrumented a different approach to the assessment of the evidence. In essence, the assessment of the implementation of fair trial standards consists in reporting the construction of the legal arguments of the court of first instance, respectively the legal arguments put forward by the appellate court to the legal and jurisprudential requirements of the right to a fair trial. It is also necessary to have an integrated view of the two legal arguments (put forward by the first instance and by the appellate court) in order to observe the extent to which the correlation between the two determines compliance with Article 6, paragraph 1 of the Convention.

Keywords

• right to a fair trial
• criminal limb
• assessment of evidence
• fair hearing
• hearing of witnesses