3.3 Although the author does not specifically invoke article 14 of the Covenant, it is clear from his submissions that he considers the refusal of the services of an interpreter to be a violation of article 14, paragraph 3 (f), of the Covenant. He affirms that as a matter of principle, French courts refuse to provide the services of interpreters to accused persons of Breton mother tongue on the ground that they are deemed to be proficient in French. The facts as submitted by the author 2.1 On 7 January 1988, the author appeared before the Tribunal Correctionnel of Rennes on charges of having defaced 21 road signs on 7 August 1987. He requested permission of the court to express himself in Breton, which he states is his mother tongue, and asked for an interpreter. The court rejected the request and referred consideration of the merits to a later date. 3.4 As to the requirement of exhaustion of domestic remedies, the author submits that there are no effective remedies available after the decision of the Court of Appeal of Rennes of 4 July 1988, as the French judicial system refuses to recognize the use of the Breton language. 2.2 The author appealed the decision not to make an interpreter available to him. By decision of 20 January 1988, the President of the Criminal Appeals Chamber of the Tribunal Correctionnel of Rennes dismissed his appeal. On 3 March 1988, the case was considered on its merits: the author was heard in French. He was given a suspended sentence of four months’ imprisonment and fined 5,000 French francs. The Department of Criminal Prosecutions appealed the decision. The State party’s observations 4.1 As to admissibility, the State party contends that the communication is inadmissible on the grounds of non-exhaustion of domestic remedies, since the author did not lodge an appeal to the Court of Appeal of Rennes against the decision of the President of the Criminal Appeals Chamber of the Tribunal Correctionnel of 20 January 1988 not to allow him to express himself in Breton. 2.3 On 4 July 1988, the Court of Appeal of Rennes confirmed the judgement of the court of first instance. On appeal, the author was heard in French. The complaint 4.2 Concerning the author’s allegations under article 14, the State party argues that the notion of a “fair trial” (procès equitable) in article 14, paragraph 1, cannot be determined in abstracto but must be examined in the light of the circumstances of each case. As to the judicial proceedings in Mr. Barzhig’s case, the State party submits that the author and the witnesses he called on his behalf were perfectly capable of expressing themselves in French. 3.1 The author submits that the State party’s refusal to respect the rights of Bretons to express themselves in their mother tongue constitutes a violation of article 2 of the Covenant as well as language-based discrimination within the meaning of article 26, because French-mother-tongue citizens enjoy the right to express themselves in their language, whereas Bretons are denied this right simply because they are deemed to be proficient in French. This, in the author’s opinion, reflects a long-standing policy, on the State party’s part, of suppressing or eliminating the regional languages spoken in France. 4.3 The State party submits that criminal proceedings are an inappropriate venue for expressing demands linked to the promotion of the use of regional languages. The sole purpose of criminal proceedings is to establish the guilt or the innocence of the accused. In this respect, it is important to facilitate a direct dialogue between the judge and the accused. As the intervention of an interpreter encompasses the risk of the accused’s statements being reproduced inexactly, resort to an interpreter should be reserved for strictly necessary cases, i.e., if the accused does not sufficiently understand or speak the court language. 3.2 With reference to the French declaration entered in respect of article 27, the author contends that the State party’s refusal to recognize the linguistic entity of the Breton minority and to apply article 27 of the Covenant violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In this context, he invokes a resolution adopted by the European Parliament on 30 October 1987, addressing the need to protect European regional and minority languages and cultures. 93