A Chinese national, sentenced for the illegal practice of medicine, did not benefit from the guarantees “applicable in the event of police custody” during her free hearing in 2013, considers the ECHR.
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The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) condemned, Thursday, April 28, France for not having respected the rights of defense of a person subject to a free hearing. Judicial body of the Council of Europe, “the European Court requires respect for the guarantees applicable in the event of police custody” during a free hearing, explained the Court in a press release (PDF).
However, the applicant, a Chinese national subsequently convicted of practicing medicine illegally, did not “not expressly notified of the right to remain silent and did not benefit from the assistance of an interpreter”during his free hearing in January 2013. These shortcomings “contributed to her self-incrimination, and the place taken by the statements taken during the free hearing and the testimonies produced following it, [ont] rendered the proceedings unfair as a whole”unanimously considered the seven judges of the court.
The ECHR did not order France to pay damages to the applicant for “moral damage”considering that “the finding of a violation constitutes in itself sufficient just satisfaction”but the applicant is to receive 1,200 euros “for costs and expenses”.
France was also sued before the ECHR for a similar case, but in this case was not condemned because the court “on the other hand, considered that the criminal proceedings, considered as a whole, had made it possible to remedy the procedural shortcomings that arose during the free hearing”.