Rights of parties to an impartial court in the light of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights

Abstract

Human rights are freedoms, means of protection and benefits, which, when recognized as rights, in accordance with contemporary freedoms, all people should be able to demand from the society in which they live (Encyclopedia… 1985: p. 502). Public confidence in the judiciary depends on many factors. One of them is judicial impartiality, generally understood as not being guided by prejudices against parties and participants in the proceedings and lack of interest in the case. The fundamental importance of this value in the administration of justice means that the law defines its specific guarantees, such as rules for determining adjudication panels, open proceedings, obligation to justify a decision, as well as the possibility of excluding a judge from participating in proceedings due to doubts as to his impartiality. The aim of the article is to indicate that the ability to assert rights is the most important aspect of human rights. These rights are not only lofty ideals or aspirations, but also the improvements underlying the claims. This is proved by outcomes of the analysis presented in this article.

Keywords

• human rights
• court
• case law
• European Court of Human Rights