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Legal Digest of International Fair Trial Rights
In the context of the establishment of parenthood, child custody proceedings, or proceedings concerning access of a divorced parent to her/his children, and in general in cases
involving civil status and capacity, the Human Rights Committee and European Court of
Human Rights have similarly required that such issues be adjudicated expeditiously.567 In
H. v the United Kingdom, the European Court stated that, in cases of this kind, in view of
what is at stake for the applicant:
“the authorities are under a duty to exercise exceptional diligence since there is always
the danger that any procedural delay will result in the de facto determination of the issue
submitted to the court before it has held its hearing.” 568
In Jevremovic v Serbia, for example, and notwithstanding the complexity of the case, a period of four years and nine months was found to be in violation of Article 6(1) of the ECHR
in proceedings for the establishment of paternity and child custody.569 In contrast, in Hokkanen v Finland, a similar case concerning child custody, a period of 18 months comprising
three judicial levels was found by the European Court to be reasonable.570 The need for civil
hearings to proceed in an expeditious way has also been found in cases where the health of
one of the parties was at issue (in a claim by an applicant who had contracted HIV from an
infected blood transfusion),571 employment disputes572 and personal injury cases where an
applicant has suffered serious personal injury.573
Where delays in civil proceedings are caused by a lack of resources or under-funding, the
Committee has commented that, to the extent possible, supplementary budgetary resources
should be allocated for the administration of justice.574 Notably, and in combination with the
right to effective remedies under Article 2(3) of the Covenant, excessive delays on the part of
administrative authorities in implementing judicial decisions has been treated as a violation
of Article 14(1).575
567 Tcholatch v Canada, HRC Communication 1052/2002, UN Doc CCPR/C/89/D/1052/2002 (2007), paras
8.9–8.11; E. B. v New Zealand, HRC Communication 1368/2007, UN Doc CCPR/C/89/D/1368/2005 (2007),
paras 9.2–9.4; and Hokkanen v Finland [1994] ECHR 32, para 72.
568 H. v the United Kingdom [1987] ECHR 14, para 85. See also Bock v Germany [1989] ECHR 3, para 49.
569 Jevremovic v Serbia [2007] ECHR 612, para 86.
570 Hokkanen v Finland [1994] ECHR 32, para 72.
571 X v France [1992] ECHR 45, especially paras 47–49.
572 Obermeier v Austria [1990] ECHR 15, para 72; Frydlender v France [2000] ECHR 353, para 45.
573 Silva Pontes v Portugal [1994] ECHR 12, para 39.
574 UN Human Rights Committee, CCPR General Comment 32 (2007), para 27.
575 Czernin v the Czech Republic, HRC Communication 823/1998, UN Doc CCPR/C/83/D/823/1998 (2005),
para 7.5.
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