CASE OF LAMBIN v. RUSSIA
Violation of Article 6 - Right to a fair trial (Article 6 - Criminal proceedings;Article 6-1 - Public hearing);No violation of Article 6+6-3-b - Right to a fair trial (Article 6 - Criminal proceedings;Article 6-1 - Fair hearing) (Article 6-3-b - Adequate facilities;Adequate time;Preparation of defence;Article 6 - Right to a fair trial)
Branko Lubarda;Dmitry Dedov;Georgios A. Serghides;Helen Keller;Helena Jäderblom;Pere Pastor Vilanova
5. The applicant was born in 1984 and is currently being detained in a correctional colony in the village of Torbeyevo, Mordovia Republic, Russia. 6. On 21 April 2005 the applicant was convicted during a public hearing of murder and was sentenced to imprisonment. He and his lawyer had had thirty-five minutes to study the case file, which consisted of five volumes. The conviction was upheld on appeal in a public hearing on 18 August 2005 (“the 2005 proceedings”). 7. On 30 July 2010 the appeal judgment was quashed by way of a supervisory review (on grounds not related to the applicant’s Article 6 complaints in respect of the 2005 proceedings) as the applicant’s right to defence had been breached during the appeal hearing. The case was sent for fresh examination on appeal. 8. The applicant was allowed to re-read the case file within the new appeal proceedings. He and his lawyer had five days, from 4 to 8 October 2010, to study the now six-volume case file (about 1,500 pages) in remand prison no. IZ-24/1 in Krasnoyarsk, where the applicant was being detained. The applicant was allegedly held in a metal cage while studying the case, without a table or any other facilities to take notes. After studying the case file both the applicant and the lawyer filed appeals. In his appeal statements the applicant analysed the case materials in detail, referred extensively to all the main items of evidence, including expert opinions and witness testimony, and referred to exact pages in the case file. 9. The applicant’s case was examined by the Supreme Court of Russia (“the Supreme Court”) over four hearings, three of which (21 October, 30 November and 16 December 2010), according to the trial record and the court’s procedural decisions, were held in camera. The case file did not contain any formal decision by the Supreme Court to close the hearings to the public. The applicant was represented by two lawyers who confirmed to the court that they had had enough time to study the case file. 10. On 16 December 2010 the Supreme Court upheld the judgment of 21 April 2005. The Supreme Court’s judgment was delivered to the remand prison, where the applicant was still being detained, on 11 January 2011 (“the 2010 proceedings”).