24
SAUNDERS v. UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT
to his claim for loss of earnings, they submitted that he was dismissed by
Guinness following the company’s own investigation into the conduct of the
take-over. Moreover, he had been in receipt of a pension from Guinness of
£74,000 per annum since his dismissal, in addition to which, since
May 1993, he had earned approximately £125,000 net per annum as a
business consultant.
85. The Delegate of the Commission emphasised that in finding a
breach of Article 6 para. 1 (art. 6-1) the Commission could not be taken to
have made any suggestion as to the likely outcome of Mr Saunders’s trial
had the transcripts not been admitted in evidence.
86. The Court observes that the finding of a breach in the present case
concerned the criminal proceedings against the applicant and not the
proceedings before the inspectors about which no complaint was made.
Moreover, it cannot speculate as to the question whether the outcome of the
trial would have been any different had use not been made of the transcripts
by the prosecution (see, mutatis mutandis, the John Murray judgment cited
above at paragraph 68, p. 52, para. 56) and, like the Commission, underlines
that the finding of a breach of the Convention is not to be taken to carry any
implication as regards that question.
It therefore considers that no causal connection has been established
between the losses claimed by the applicant and the Court’s finding of a
violation.
2. Non-pecuniary damage
87.
The applicant sought non-pecuniary damages of £1 million to
compensate him for the denial of his right to a fair trial and the resulting
anxiety, anguish and imprisonment.
88. The Government submitted that no award should be made under this
head.
89. The Court considers that, in the circumstances of the case, the
finding of a violation constitutes sufficient just satisfaction in respect of any
non-pecuniary damage sustained.
B. Costs and expenses
90. The applicant claimed a total of £336,460.75 by way of costs and
expenses in connection with the Strasbourg proceedings. This was
composed of (1) £82,284.50 in respect of counsel’s fees; (2) £42,241.25 in
respect of solicitors’ fees and (3) £211,935 concerning the fees of the
applicant’s advisers, Mr and Mrs Devlin.
91. The Government considered that the amounts claimed under this
head were excessive. In particular they submitted that no award should be
made in respect of the fees of Mr and Mrs Devlin since the applicant could
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