46 Legal Digest of International Fair Trial Rights income from property, thus leading to violation of Article 6.154 In Ciorap v Moldova, a case of a prisoner complaining of the alleged damage to his health caused by the actions of the authorities, the Court found that, regardless of his ability to pay, the applicant should have been exempted from paying court fees due to the nature of his claim.155 Practical obstacles to access by parties to the proceedings might also arise for the same sorts of reasons that the public encounters in the context of obstacles to a public hearing (See also 4.2). Parties may be prevented from accessing the judicial system, for example, because of a lack of information regarding the place and time of hearing (See also 4.2.1 and 6.5.3) or because the location of the court is such that it is difficult or impossible for parties to get to the hearing venue (See also 4.2.2). Practical obstacles to access might also arise as a result of a lack of facilities to allow physical access by disabled persons, although case law on this subject has been extremely hesitant.156 Articles 5(3) and 9 of the International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities obligate States parties to make a “reasonable accommodation” to allow persons with disabilities to access facilities and services available to others, requiring necessary and appropriate modifications and adjustments that do not impose a disproportionate or undue burden on the State. 2.2 Equality before courts and tribunals Whereas equality of arms (See also 6.1) pertains to the enjoyment of procedural rights between parties to the same proceeding, equal treatment is broader in its application and engages the principles of equality before the law and non-discrimination. In its most simple sense, equality before courts and tribunals involves the idea that everyone should be treated the same. As well as the reference in Article 14(1) of the ICCPR that “[a]ll persons shall be equal before the courts and tribunals”, Article 16 guarantees that: “Everyone shall have the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.” Article 26 adds that “All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law…”157 Article 3 provides that the parties to the ICCPR “undertake to ensure the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all civil and political rights set forth in the present Covenant”. Article 14 of the ECHR similarly provides that the enjoyment of rights must be secured without discrimination on any grounds. Protocol 12 to the ECHR refers, in its preamble, to the principles of equality before the law and the entitlement to the equal protection of the law as fundamental principles. Article 1 of Protocol 12 guarantees that: 154 Weissman and Others v Romania [2006] ECHR, paras 40, 42. 155 Ciorap v Moldova [2007] ECHR 502, para 95. 156 Loukis G. Loucaides, “The European Convention on Human Rights and the rights of persons with disabilities”, in The European Convention on Human Rights: Collected Essays (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2008), p.5; Farcas v Romania [2010] ECHR, paras 48–49 available in French only. 157 UN Human Rights Committee, CCPR General Comment 32 (2007), para 65.