140 Legal Digest of International Fair Trial Rights • where this is necessary to protect vulnerable witnesses (See also 7.1) from further distress or intimidation if they were to be questioned by the accused. 605 In González v Spain, for example, the applicant claimed that there was a violation of Article 14(1) of the ICCPR, together with Article 26 (equality and non-discrimination), by virtue of the fact that she was unable to appear before the Constitutional Court without being represented by a procurador (legal counsel accredited to the Constitutional Court). The applicant claimed that this resulted in an inequality before the law (See also 2.2), since those with a law degree did not need to be represented, whereas those without a law degree were required to be represented by a procurador. The Human Rights Committee accepted the position of the Constitutional Court, i.e., that the requirement for representation reflected the need for a person with legal training to assume responsibility for proceedings in connection with appeals to that court. The Committee did not accept, on the evidence before it, that this failed to be based upon objective and reasonable criteria.606 In such cases, it is important that effective legal assistance be provided, inter alia, by appointing a counsel of experience and competence commensurate with the nature of the offence (See also 6.6.3).607 6.6.2 The right to be informed of one’s entitlement to legal assistance If a person appears in criminal proceedings without legal assistance, Article 14(3)(d) of the ICCPR requires that s/he be informed of the right to be defended by legal counsel (See also 6.6.2).608 The same requirement can be implied to derive from Article 6(3)(c) of the ECHR, by virtue of the approach of the European Court to apply the Convention in a way that the rights in it are not “theoretical or illusory but that are practical and effective”.609 To ensure the practical and effective enjoyment of the rights under Article 14(3)(d) of the ICCPR and Article 6(3)(c) of the ECHR, a person who appears before a court to represent her/himself should be asked whether or not s/he understands the entitlement to legal assistance of one’s choosing610 (See also 6.6.3) and the fact that, should the person have insufficient means to pay for legal assistance, there may also be an entitlement to legal aid (See also 6.6.7). Although the right to be informed of one’s entitlement to legal assistance is expressed within the context of criminal proceedings, the approach of ensuring the practical and effective enjoyment of rights might also call for the application of this right in non-criminal 605 UN Human Rights Committee, CCPR General Comment 32 (2007), para 37. See also Correia de Matos v Portugal, HRC Communication 1123/2002, UN Doc CCPR/C/86/D/1123/2002 (2006), paras 7.4–7.5. 606 González v Spain, HRC Communication 1005/2001, UN Doc CCPR/C/74/D/1005/2001 (2002), para 4.3. 607 See also UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, adopted by the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Havana, 1990, para 6. 608 See also UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, adopted by the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Havana, 1990, para 5. 609 See, for example: Airey v Ireland [1979] ECHR 3, para 24; and Artico v Italy [1980] ECHR 4, para 33. 610 Yoldaş v Turkey [2010] ECHR 1620, para 52 in French only.