Communicated on 5 March 2019
SECOND SECTION
Application no. 72827/10
Ali Ekber ASLAN
against Turkey
lodged on 25 November 2010
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
The application concerns the alleged unfairness of the criminal proceedings due to the systemic restriction imposed on the applicant’s right of access to a lawyer during the pre-trial stage pursuant to Law no. 3842 and the subsequent use by the trial court of those statements taken in the absence of a lawyer (see Salduz v. Turkey [GC], no. 36391/02, ECHR 2008, and Ibrahim and Others v. the United Kingdom [GC], nos. 50541/08 and 3 others, ECHR 2016; and Beuze v. Belgium [GC], no. 71409/10, 9 November 2018).
QUESTIONS tO THE PARTIES
1. Did the applicant have a fair trial within the meaning of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention? In particular, having regard to the principles adopted by the Grand Chamber in the case of Ibrahim and Others (v. the United Kingdom [GC], nos. 50541/08, 50571/08, 50573/08 and 40351/09, 13 September 2016) and Beuze (v. Belgium [GC], no. 71409/10, 9 November 2018), has there been a breach of Article 6 §§ 1 and 3 (c) of the Convention?
In that connection, were there any compelling reasons to restrict the applicant’s right of access to a lawyer? If so, had they been temporary and based on an individual assessment of the particular circumstances of the case?
– If answered in the affirmative, could the criminal proceedings as a whole against the applicant be considered as fair within the meaning of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention? In particular, which of the relevant procedural safeguards (some of which listed non-exhaustively in § 274 of Ibrahim and Others) were taken into account by the domestic courts in order to assess the impact of procedural shortcomings at the pre-trial stage on the overall fairness of the criminal proceedings?
– If answered in the negative, were there any exceptional circumstances in the present case, to demonstrate whether the absence of access to legal advice during the applicant’s police custody had not caused irretrievable prejudice to the overall fairness of the trial?
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