Criminal Fair Trial Rights ─ Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights

Regarding the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 6 fair trial rights are the most heavily-litigated Convention rights before the Strasbourg Court, generating a large and complex body of case law. This book provides an innovative and critical analysis of Strasbourg's Article 6 case law. The category of 'fair trial rights' includes many component rights. The existing literature tends to chart the law with respect to each of these component rights, one by one. This traditional approach is useful, but it risks artificially isolating the case law in a series of watertight compartments. The book takes a complementary (but different) approach. Instead of analyzing the component rights one by one, it takes a critical look at the case law through a number of 'cross-cutting' problems and themes common to many of the component rights. For example: How does the Court view its role in Article 6 cases? When will the Court recognize an implied right in Article 6? How does the Court assess Article 6 infringements, and when will the public interest justify an infringement? The book's case-law-driven approach demonstrates that the Court's Article 6 jurisprudence is marked by considerable uncertainty, inconsistency, and incoherence. It will be useful to all those working in the fields of criminal law and human rights. (Series: Criminal Law Library)

Ryan Goss is Lecturer in Law at the Australian National University, Canberra, and was formerly Junior Research Fellow in Law at Lincoln College, Oxford.