INCONSISTENT ADJUDICATION – A VIOLATION OF THE RIGHT TO FAIR TRIAL UNDER THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
INCONSISTENT ADJUDICATION – A VIOLATION OF THE RIGHT TO FAIR TRIAL UNDER THE EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

Summary/Abstract: The ECtHR does not review decisions of national courts of the States Parties to the European Convention. However, it has developed a pattern in its case law to find a violation of the Convention on the grounds that the fair hearing lacked if there was a case law inconsistency at the level of national jurisdiction. The ECtHR case law was settled in a Grand Chamber case against Turkey in 2011. To find a violation under Article 6 of the Convention the ECtHR requires two tests. Firstly, it must establish the existence of a profound and long-standing inconsistency in the domestic case law, and secondly, the ECtHR raises the issue of a mechanism aimed at removing the inconsistency. If the mechanism does not exist, or if it applied ineffectively, the ECtHR finds a violation of human rights. The author suggests the ECtHR should revisit its jurisprudence.

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