EIT:n suuri jaosto: Juryn antaman tuomion perustelemattomuus ei muodostanut oikeudenmukaisen oikeudenkäynnin loukkausta

29.11.2016 | Oikeusuutiset

Markku Fredman

Euroopan ihmisoikeustuomioistuimen (EIT) suuri jaosto on tänään antamassaan tuomiossa arvioinut Belgiassa voimassa olevaa jury-järjestelmää. Huolimatta siitä, että lääketieteelliset asiantuntijat olivat päätyneet katsomaan, että valittaja ei ollut syyntakeinen rikosten tekohetkellä, juryn syyksilukeva päätös ilman perusteluita ei EIT:n enemmistön mukaan muodostanut oikeudenmukaisen oikeudenkäynnin loukkausta.

In today’s Grand Chamber judgment in the case of Lhermitte v. Belgium (application no. 34238/09) the European Court of Human Rights held, by ten votes to seven, that there had been:

no violation of Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The case concerned the reasons given by the Assize Court for the conviction of a mother who had killed her five children.

The Court noted that the jury – which had answered the questions put by the president of the Assize Court – had not provided reasons for its decision to find that the applicant had been criminally responsible at the time of the events. However, the procedure followed had made it possible for her to understand her conviction. From its preliminary stage, the investigation had focused on her personal history, character and psychological state at the time of the killings. There had been an adversarial trial, with the defendant and her counsel present, and the emergence of new evidence had led the president to order a further psychiatric assessment. The question of Ms Lhermitte’s criminal responsibility had been a central focus of the trial hearing. The sentencing judgment also included reasoning that could have assisted her in understanding why the jury had found her criminally responsible. Lastly, the Court of Cassation had noted that consideration of her coldblooded manner and her determination to carry out her crimes had constituted the Assize Court’s reason for finding that she had been criminally responsible at the time of the events.

The procedure followed had therefore enabled Ms Lhermitte to understand the reasons for her conviction by the Assize Court.

Koko lehdistötiedote, missä myös linkki koko tuomioon, löytyy täältä: here

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