Allan Jacobsson v. Sweden (no. 2)

Information Note on the Court’s case-law No.

February 1998

Allan Jacobsson v. Sweden (no. 2) - 16970/90

Judgment 19.2.1998

Article 6

Administrative proceedings

Article 6-1

Civil rights and obligations

Public hearing

Oral hearing

Refusal by Supreme Administrative Court to hold an oral hearing: Article 6 § 1 applicable; no violation

[This summary is extracted from the Court’s official reports (Series A or Reports of Judgments and Decisions). Its formatting and structure may therefore differ from the Case-Law Information Note summaries.]

A.  Applicability

Dispute was a serious and genuine one and outcome of the proceedings was directly decisive for the civil rights claimed by applicant.

Conclusion: Article 6 § 1 applicable (unanimously).

B.  Compliance

According to Court's case-law, in proceedings before a court of first and only instance the right to a “public hearing” under Article 6 § 1 entailed an entitlement to an “oral hearing” unless there were exceptional circumstances that justified dispensing with such a hearing – evidence in case under consideration did not show that applicant’s submissions to Supreme Administrative Court were capable of raising any issues of fact or of law pertaining to his building rights which were of such a nature as to require an oral hearing for their disposition – on the contrary, given limited nature of issues to be determined by it, Supreme Administrative Court, although it acted as first and only judicial instance in case, was dispensed from its normal obligation under Article 6 § 1 to hold an oral hearing.

Conclusion: no violation (unanimously).

© Council of Europe/European Court of Human Rights
This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.

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