FIFTH SECTION
CASE OF TORTLADZE v. GEORGIA
(Application no. 42371/08)
 
 
JUDGMENT
 
Art 8 • Respect for home and private life • Unjustified search of consular premises in connection with drug-related criminal investigation using “urgent procedure” • Insufficient ex post factum judicial review
Art 6 § 1 (criminal) • Fair hearing • Use of evidence obtained in violation of Art 8 having no decisive impact on overall fairness of proceedings in light of all the circumstances, with conviction additionally based on other court-tested evidence • Access to court • Refusal of Supreme Court to consider applicant’s case on the merits not unreasonable or disproportionate, with thorough examination of applicant’s relevant arguments by first two instances

 
STRASBOURG
18 March 2021
FINAL
 
18/06/2021
 
This judgment has become final under Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Tortladze v. Georgia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:
 Síofra O’Leary, President,
 Ganna Yudkivska,
 Jovan Ilievski,
 Lado Chanturia,
 Ivana Jelić,
 Arnfinn Bårdsen,
 Mattias Guyomar, judges,
and Victor Soloveytchik, Section Registrar,
Having regard to:
the application (no. 42371/08) against Georgia lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by a Georgian national, Mr Ermile Tortladze (“the applicant”), on 14 August 2008;
the decision to give notice to the Georgian Government (“the Government”) of part of the application and to declare inadmissible the remainder;
the parties’ observations;
Having deliberated in private on 9 February 2021,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
INTRODUCTION
1. The case concerns, in particular, the search conducted in the course of a preliminary criminal investigation in the office of the Honorary Consular General of Côte d’Ivoire in Georgia, and the reliance by the domestic courts on the evidence obtained as a result. The applicant complains under Articles 3, 6 § 1, and 8 § 1 of the Convention. THE FACTS
2. The applicant was born in 1964 and lives in Tbilisi. He was represented before the Court by Ms N. Margieva and Ms M. Shatirishvili, lawyers practising in Tbilisi. 3. The Government were represented by their Agent, Mr L. Meskhoradze, of the Ministry of Justice. 4. The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. Search of the consular premises and initiation of criminal proceedings
5. The applicant was serving as Honorary Consul General of Côte d’Ivoire in Georgia at the material time. It appears from the case file that from time to time he was also performing the functions of a consular courier. 6. On 24 August 2005 the police arrested A.I., a former head of security at the Honorary Consulate General of Côte d’Ivoire (“the Honorary Consulate”), and a consulate lawyer at the material time, on suspicion of unlawful possession of drugs with intent to supply. While being questioned as a suspect, he named the applicant as his long-term drug dealer. He also claimed that he had purchased twelve-and-a-half Subutex (buprenorphine) pills from the applicant earlier that day on the premises of the Honorary Consulate. 7. On the same date the Ministry of the Interior (“the MoI”) requested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (“the MFA”) to provide information about the legal status of the Honorary Consulate and the immunities that the applicant enjoyed in his capacity of Honorary Consul General. 8. On 25 August 2005 the head of the consular department of the MFA replied in writing, explaining that under Article 43 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (“the Vienna Convention”), consular officers enjoyed functional immunity. As for the premises, it was noted that the inviolability of consular premises as laid down in Article 31 of the Vienna Convention did not extend to premises occupied by Honorary Consuls. Lastly, with respect to Honorary Consuls, only the provisions in Chapter III of the Vienna Convention were applicable (see the relevant provisions as cited in paragraph 38 below). 9. On the same date, the investigator in charge of the case against A.I. issued a decision ordering that a search be conducted on the premises occupied by the Honorary Consulate in urgent circumstances. The decision did not list the items the police were to search for or provide any other details concerning the investigative measure. On 25 August 2005 the police, acting on the above order, entered the Honorary Consulate and conducted a search. The applicant, who was present, challenged its lawfulness, claiming that it violated Article 328 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and relevant international norms protecting diplomatic and consular missions. He refused to sign the search report and added a written note to it explaining that the Consul General, in this specific case he himself, had to give prior consent before any search could be carried out. 10. According to the official record, the search of the Honorary Consulate was conducted between 5.27 and 6.45 p.m., attended by D.J., a representative of the MFA, and was recorded on video. The applicant waived his right to invite attesting witnesses to attend the search. As a result of the search, 227 Subutex pills, seven ampoules of morphine hydrochloride and several gun cartridges were seized from a safe and a desk in the applicant’s office. 11. On the same date police also searched the applicant’s vehicle and apartment. The latter was similarly searched in the presence of D.J., the MFA representative, and the applicant’s wife, who, according to the search report, waived her right to invite independent witnesses to attend. As a result of the search, which was recorded on video, a gun and several cartridges were recovered from the applicant’s apartment. The applicant’s wife refused to sign the search report, adding a note that the weapon found did not belong to her family. 12. According to the arrest record, the applicant was arrested on the premises of the Honorary Consulate at 6.50 p.m. on 25 August 2005. 13. On 26 August 2005 the applicant, after further questioning as a suspect, complained that the searches had been conducted unlawfully, in breach of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. He claimed that the Subutex pills found in his office did not belong to him, and that he did not know how they had ended up in the safe. As for the morphine ampoules, he admitted that they belonged to him and that as a heart sufferer, he had been keeping them for emergencies. He also denied that the gun found in his apartment belonged to him. After the above interview the applicant and A.I. were questioned in a confrontation with each other. A.I. maintained his allegations, while the applicant dismissed the accusations as untrue. 14. On the same date the prosecutor in charge of the criminal case against the applicant lodged three applications with a first-instance court in Tbilisi, asking to have the searches of 25 August 2005, which he claimed had been urgent, legalised. The requests simply indicated the places the searches had been conducted (the Honorary Consulate, the applicant’s vehicle and his apartment), the substances and the arms that had been discovered as a result of the searches, and the offences the applicant had been suspected of. All three searches, according to the requests, had been conducted in urgent circumstances. In accordance with Articles 290, 315, 317, 322 and 323 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the prosecutor asked the court to validate the searches. The requests did not mention any procedural documents submitted in support thereof. 15. On the same date the Tbilisi City Court examined the three requests in writing, without allowing the applicant to submit observations, and declared that the searches had been lawful. All three decisions, written in a summary manner, did not refer to relevant factual circumstances and did not elaborate on the necessity of searches in urgent circumstances. In connection with the search of the consular premises, the court noted that it was clear from the prosecution’s request that the search had been conducted as there had been a risk of the evidence of a crime being destroyed, it had been urgent and that the police had complied with the rules of criminal procedure. The decisions provided for a seventy-two-hour appeal period. It appears from the case file that the applicant did not avail himself of this opportunity. 16. On 27 August 2005 the applicant was formally charged with various drug and firearms offences under Article 260 §§ 2(a) and 3(a) and Article 236 §§ 1 and 3 of the Criminal Code. The following day a judge, at the request of the prosecutor, ordered that he be remanded in custody for three months. 17. During the pre-trial investigation the applicant’s lawyer requested a dactyloscopic (fingerprint) examination of the drugs seized from his client’s office and the weapon allegedly found in his apartment. The request was rejected by the prosecutor, who concluded that because the physical evidence bore the fingerprints of various people who had participated in the seizure and subsequent forensic examination, a dactyloscopic examination would prove pointless. 18. In another request, the applicant claimed that the drugs found in his office belonged to A.I. who, while employed by the Honorary Consulate, had enjoyed unlimited access to its premises. He requested in this connection that several other employees of the Consulate be called for questioning. He also dismissed as untrue A.I.’s allegations that he had purchased Subutex on the consular premises on 24 August 2005 and requested that several members of the security team of the consulate be summoned for questioning in this regard. Both requests were refused. 19. On 14 November 2005 the pre-trial investigation was completed. On 19 November 2005 the applicant, via his lawyer, lodged a request with the investigator in charge of the case, complaining of partiality and one‑sidedness in the investigation. He maintained that by refusing to question the consulate’s employees and members of its security team, the investigator had ignored the applicant’s right to challenge A.I.’s credibility and the truthfulness of his statements. He reiterated his request for those witnesses to be called for questioning, and for a fingerprint examination of the drugs and weapon seized. He also claimed that the search of the Honorary Consulate had been unlawful, firstly because he had not been allowed to invite independent witnesses to attend, and secondly because consular premises were inviolable under international law. He maintained, with reference to Article 102 § 4 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, that there had been no urgent need to carry out a search in the absence of independent witnesses, since the Consulate premises and he himself had been under the absolute control of the police, thus preventing him from interfering with the evidence. He asked for access to the full video recordings of the searches of the Consulate and his apartment. 20. By a decision of 21 November 2005, the investigator rejected the applicant’s requests. The applicant’s trial
21. The trial proceedings started on 19 October 2006. Before the trial court the applicant reiterated his request for a fingerprint examination of the seized drugs and weapon and for the questioning of several Consulate employees. According to the applicant, those witnesses could prove, inter alia, that A.I. had not been at the Consulate on 24 August 2005, and so could not have purchased drugs from the applicant that day. The applicant also asked to admit as evidence the video recordings made in the Consulate on 25 August 2005, and to obtain and admit as evidence a video recording made by a private TV company of the police searching the Consulate premises. While filing a number of other applications with the trial court, the applicant maintained that the search of the consular premises had been unlawful, firstly because he as a consular courier, and the Consulate as a whole, were covered by diplomatic immunity, and secondly because no independent eyewitnesses had been allowed to attend. He asked the court to reject as inadmissible the police report on the search of the Consulate and the physical evidence obtained thereby. 22. On 23 October 2006 the Tbilisi City Court partially granted the requests of the defence. It agreed, inter alia, to interview the defence witnesses in court. While providing general information on the functioning of the Consulate, the applicant’s witnesses stated that they could not remember seeing A.I. on the premises of the Consulate on 24 August 2005. 23. During the trial proceedings the two police officers who had conducted the search of the Consulate were also questioned. Both noted that the search had been conducted on the basis of operational information; that the search had been video-recorded; and that there had been around ten to twenty people on the premises of the Consulate during the search. A.I., the key prosecution witness, also questioned during the trial, confirmed his pre‑trial statement implicating the applicant in supplying drugs. 24. On 13 November 2006 the trial court interviewed D.J., the head of the consulate department at the MFA, who had been present at the searches. In respect of the Consulate’s status, she noted that since it was headed by an Honorary Consul General rather than a career consular officer, only Chapter III of the Vienna Convention of 1963 was applicable. As far as her participation in the search was concerned, she explained that she had attended the search in view of the requirements of the criminal procedural law; she had not been there as a diplomatic representative, as the Consulate in question had not been a diplomatic mission protected under the Vienna Convention. In reply to a specific question, she confirmed that Article 31 § 2 of the Vienna Convention concerning the inviolability of consular premises did not extent to the premises of the relevant Honorary Consulate. 25. During the court proceedings a video recording depicting the search on the premises of the Consulate was shown. Two sequences in the video recording showed the moments at which drugs were found in the applicant’s desk and in a safe. The applicant denounced the video recording, claiming that it had been manipulated. 26. On 20 November 2006 the Tbilisi City Court convicted the applicant as charged and sentenced him to eighteen years’ imprisonment. The trial judge, in finding his guilt established, relied on the relevant search reports, the evidence of A.I., the statements of the two police officers who had conducted the search of the consular offices, and the video recordings of the searches of the applicant’s apartment and the consular offices. The trial court found the statements of the defence witnesses to be inconclusive and contradictory. As to the issue of the immunities and privileges, it relied entirely on the explanations provided by the head of the consular department at the MFA. 27. According to the applicant, he was placed in a metal cage during the court proceedings. 28. The applicant appealed against his conviction. He maintained, among other points, that the search of the consular offices had been unlawful. In this connection he alleged that he had not been notified of his right to invite attesting witnesses to attend the search; and that the search had been conducted in violation of Article 328 § 3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (see paragraph 37 below), as the police had failed to seek authorisation from the head of the diplomatic mission of Cote d’Ivoire. 29. By a decision of 19 June 2007 the Tbilisi Court of Appeal, while upholding the applicant’s conviction, reduced his prison sentence to seventeen years. Like the trial court, the appeal court dismissed the applicant’s immunity argument. It concluded in particular, on the basis of the evidence presented by the MFA, that the applicant, enjoyed no personal inviolability in his capacity as Honorary Consul and no jurisdictional immunity of any kind; in connection with the applicant’s additional argument that he performed the functions of a consular courier, the appeal court concluded, referring to Article 35 of the Vienna Convention, that at the moment of his arrest the applicant had not been performing this specific function. As for the premises, under Article 59 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the receiving State was required merely to protect them. In confirming the applicant’s conviction, the Tbilisi Court of Appeal relied on the evidence of A.I., the statements of the two police officers who had conducted the search of the consular offices, the evidence of D.J., who had been present at the searches, the reports on the search of the consular offices and the applicant’s apartment, and the relevant video recordings. 30. On 13 July 2007 the applicant lodged an appeal on points of law, reiterating the arguments he had made in his previous appeal. He claimed that the relevant video recording of the search of the consular offices showed clearly that the applicant had not been informed of his right to invite attesting witnesses and could not accordingly have waived it, and that he had initially been restrained and only then had the search started, which implied that he could not have intervened with the evidence. He also reiterated his arguments concerning his immunity, stressing that he was not only the Honorary Consular General but he was also performing the functions of consular courier. 31. On 18 February 2008 the Supreme Court of Georgia rejected the applicant’s appeal on points of law as inadmissible. The court reproduced the relevant provision of the Code of Criminal Procedure, noting that “the case [was] not important for the development of the law and coherent judicial practice; the [contested] decision [did] not differ from the Supreme Court’s existing practice in such matters, and the appellate court [had] not committed any major procedural flaws during its examination which could have significantly affected its outcome.”
32. In view of his poor medical condition the applicant was granted early release from prison on 21 January 2013. Transfer and holding conditions on court premises
33. On 20 October 2006, during the ongoing trial hearings, the applicant complained to the Minister of Justice and to the head of the prisons department about the conditions in which he was transferred to and then held on the premises of the Tbilisi City Court ahead of his trial. He alleged, on the basis of his experience on 19 October 2006, that all the defendants were transferred to the courthouse in the morning at around 10 a.m., although they were not being called into court for their respective trials until between 5 and 7 p.m. in the evening. In the intervening period, around twenty-five detainees were kept in the same holding cell, measuring between 5 and 6 sq. m. The cell had no ventilation and no chairs. The applicant, referring to his medical condition, claimed that this amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment. 34. According to the minutes of the hearing held in the applicant’s case on 2 November 2006, this complaint by the applicant was simply included, without any examination, in the materials of his criminal case. The trial minutes reveal that at no subsequent point did the applicant reiterate his grievances concerning the conditions of his transfer and detention in the so called “holding cell” at the first-instance court. 35. On 15 May 2007 the applicant complained to the Minister of Justice and the head of the prisons department about the conditions of the so-called holding cell on the premises of the court of appeal. He alleged that prisoners had to wait for their respective trials for 8 to 10 hours in a cell which was located underground; 20 to 35 prisoners were kept in a concrete cell destined for some 10 people, with no proper ventilation system. Referring to his own experience on 7 May 2007, he noted that he had been placed in such a cell for ten hours; as a result, he suffered a stenocardiac attack. Referring to Article 3 of the Convention, he asked the relevant authorities to take adequate measure to protect his life and health. RELEVANT LEGAL FRAMEWORK
Code of Criminal Procedure of 1998
36. The relevant provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, in force at the material time, read as follows:
Article 13. Inviolability of private life
“1. No one has the right to arbitrarily and unlawfully interfere with the private life of others. The inviolability of the home or other property ... is guaranteed by law. 2. A search [and/or] seizure ... is only permitted by an order of a judge or court. In cases of urgent necessity, as provided in law ... a search or seizure may be carried out in the absence of a court order, although its lawfulness and reasonableness shall be assessed by a judge within [twenty-four] hours of receiving the relevant documents. At the same time, the judge shall decide on the admissibility of the evidence obtained as a result of the procedural measure in question.”
Article 290. Investigative act conducted with judicial authorisation
“... 2. A seizure [and/or] search ... may be carried out without a judicial warrant in urgent circumstances, on the basis of an order by an inquiry officer, an investigator or a prosecutor. In such cases the authorities must inform the competent judge ... within 24 hours, providing him or her with criminal case-file documents demonstrating the necessity of carrying out the investigative measure in question. ... the judge shall verify, with the prosecutor present, whether the measure was carried out in accordance with the law ... and shall (a) decide to legalise it, or (b) declare it unlawful and order the inadmissibility of the evidence obtained as a result. 3. In urgent circumstances a seizure [and/or] search ... may be carried out without a judicial warrant before the initiation of criminal proceedings. In such a case an inquiry body shall issue a reasoned decision („მოტივირებული დადგენილება“). [The inquiry body] shall immediately inform the prosecutor about the conduct [of an investigative measure]. After having acquainted himself or herself with the decision of the inquiry body ordering the investigative measure, the [relevant] reports, and the factual circumstances, the prosecutor shall apply within 24 hours to a judge ... providing him or her with documents showing the need to conduct the investigative measure before the opening of a criminal case. The judge ... with the participation of the prosecutor, shall verify the lawfulness of the investigative measure that has been carried out before the initiation of criminal proceedings. Having examined the prosecutor’s request... the judge shall (a) decide to legalise the investigative measure ... or (b) declare it unlawful, close the criminal proceedings initiated on the basis of that investigative act and dismiss the evidence obtained as a result [as unlawful]. 4. A case is considered urgent when: there is a real risk of the trace or evidence of a crime being destroyed or lost, if a person is apprehended in flagrante delicto; if objects or documents relevant to a case are discovered in the context of another investigative measure (inspection of a crime scene, reconstruction of events, inspection) or if it is impossible to issue a judicial warrant on account of the absence of a judge.
... 7. In cases provided for in paragraphs 2 and 3 of the current Article, no verbatim record of the hearing shall be drawn up, and no appeal lies against the judge’s decision.”
37. Article 328 described the procedure for searches and seizures on the premises of diplomatic missions. It stipulated, inter alia, that a search or seizure on the premises of diplomatic missions, or on premises where a person with diplomatic immunity and his or her family member lived, could only be conducted at the request or with the consent of the head of the relevant diplomatic mission. Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 24 April 1963
38. The 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relation, which Georgia joined by accession on 21 July 1993, is the foundation of the institution of honorary consular. The Convention divides consular officers into two categories, career and honorary consular officers (Article 1 § 2). Chapter III of the Vienna Convention contains provisions relating to the honorary consular and consular offices headed by them. The relevant provisions of the Vienna Convention read as follows:
Article 1. Definitions
“1. For the purposes of the present Convention, the following expressions shall have the meanings hereunder assigned to them:
... (d) ‘consular officer’ means any person, including the head of a consular post, entrusted in that capacity with the exercise of consular functions; ... (j) ‘consular premises’ means the buildings or parts of buildings and the land ancillary thereto, irrespective of ownership, used exclusively for the purposes of the consular post;
2. Consular officers are of two categories, namely career consular officers and honorary consular officers. The provisions of Chapter II of the present Convention apply to consular posts headed by career consular officers; the provisions of Chapter III govern consular posts headed by honorary consular officers. 3. The particular status of members of the consular posts who are nationals or permanent residents of the receiving State is governed by Article 71 of the present Convention.”
Chapter II
Article 31. Inviolability of the consular premises
“1. Consular premises shall be inviolable to the extent provided in this Article. 2. The authorities of the receiving State shall not enter that part of the consular premises which is used exclusively for the purpose of the work of the consular post except with the consent of the head of the consular post or of his designee or of the head of the diplomatic mission of the sending State. The consent of the head of the consular post may, however, be assumed in case of fire or other disaster requiring prompt protective action.
...”
Article 35. Freedom of communication
“... 5. The consular courier shall be provided with an official document indicating his status and the number of packages constituting the consular bag. Except with the consent of the receiving State he shall be neither a national of the receiving State, nor, unless he is a national of the sending State, a permanent resident of the receiving State. In the performance of his functions he shall be protected by the receiving State. He shall enjoy personal inviolability and shall not be liable to any form of arrest or detention. 6. The sending State, its diplomatic missions and its consular posts may designate consular couriers ad hoc. In such cases the provisions of paragraph 5 of this Article shall also apply except that the immunities therein mentioned shall cease to apply when such a courier has delivered to the consignee the consular bag in his charge.”
Chapter III
Regime Relating to Honorary Consular Officers
and Consular Posts Headed by Such Officers
 
39. Chapter III of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations provides for the regime relating to honorary consular officers and consular posts headed by such officers. According to Article 58 (“General provisions relating to facilities, privileges and immunities), Article 31 (Inviolability of the consular premises) does not apply to facilities headed by honorary consular officers. The most relevant provisions related to honorary consular officers read as follows:
Article 59. Protection of the consular premises
“The receiving State shall take such steps as may be necessary to protect the consular premises of a consular post headed by an honorary consular officer against any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of the consular post or impairment of its dignity.”
Article 63. Criminal proceedings
“If criminal proceedings are instituted against an honorary consular officer, he must appear before the competent authorities. Nevertheless, the proceedings shall be conducted with the respect due to him by reason of his official position and, except when he is under arrest or detention, in a manner which will hamper the exercise of consular functions as little as possible. When it has become necessary to detain an honorary consular officer, the proceedings against him shall be instituted with the minimum of delay.”
 Article 64. Protection of Honorary Consular Officers
“The receiving State is under a duty to accord to an honorary consular officer such protection as may be required by reason of his official position.”
Article 71. Nationals or permanent residents of the receiving State
“1. Except in so far as additional facilities, privileges and immunities may be granted by the receiving State, consular officers who are nationals of or permanently resident in the receiving State shall enjoy only immunity from jurisdiction and personal inviolability in respect of official acts performed in the exercise of their functions, and the privilege provided in paragraph 3 of Article 44. So far as these consular officers are concerned, the receiving State shall likewise be bound by the obligation laid down in Article 42. If criminal proceedings are instituted against such a consular officer, the proceedings shall, except when he is under arrest or detention, be conducted in a manner which will hamper the exercise of consular functions as little as possible.”
THE LAW
ALLEGED VIOLATION OF Article 3 of the Convention
40. The applicant complained about the conditions of his transfer and wait on the premises of the trial court, and about his being placed in a metal cage during the trial proceedings. He relied on Article 3 of the Convention, which reads as follows:
“No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
AdmissibilityThe parties’ submissions

41. As to the first limb of the applicant’s complaint under Article 3, the Government submitted that the applicant’s complaint regarding the conditions in which he was transferred and then required to wait on the premises of the trial court was inadmissible as out of time. They noted that the only time the applicant had voiced the respective allegations was in his complaint of 20 October 2006 (see paragraph 33 above). The complaint had been included in the applicant’s case file on 2 November 2006 but no decision on its substance had ever been taken by the trial court (see paragraph 34). In the Government’s view, in the absence of a follow-up complaint by the applicant, had he believed that there was no other effective remedy at his disposal to challenge the conditions of his transfer and detention in the court holding cell, the applicant was expected to file his application with the Court by 2 May 2007 at the latest, and not on 14 August 2008 as he had done. They stressed in this connection that the applicant’s complaint of 15 May 2007 concerned exclusively the conditions of his transfer to and subsequent detention on the premises of the appeal court, and not the circumstances of his appearance before the trial court. 42. In the alternative, the Government submitted that the relevant part of the applicant’s complaint under Article 3 of the Convention amounted to an abuse of the right of application, for the following reason: in the sole domestic complaint, and in the proceedings before the Court, the applicant referred to 19 October 2006 as the date on which he had been transferred to the trial court and kept there in inhuman and degrading conditions. However, with reference to the relevant trial court minutes, the Government submitted that the applicant had never been transferred on 19 October 2006 to the premises of the trial court. They claimed that by providing inaccurate information the applicant had intended to mislead the Court and the relevant complaint was accordingly inadmissible under Article 35 § 3 (a) of the Convention. 43. As to the second limb of the applicant’s complaint under Article 3 of the Convention, namely his placement in a metal cage during the hearings, the Government submitted that the applicant had failed to comply with the six-month rule. They noted that this complaint by the applicant concerned only the period of the trial court proceedings, which ended with his conviction on 20 November 2006. At no point did the applicant voice his allegations before the court of appeal or the Supreme Court. His complaint was thus inadmissible in accordance with Article 35 § 1 of the Convention. 44. The applicant did not comment on the Government’s inadmissibility arguments.

Outcome for Article 6: no_violation