Information Note on the Court’s case-law No. 125
December 2009
Koottummel v. Austria - 49616/06
Judgment 10.12.2009 [Section I]
Article 6
Civil proceedings
Article 6-1
Public hearing
Oral hearing
Lack of an oral hearing before a tribunal sitting at first and last instance: violation
Facts – The applicant requested a work permit for a foreign national she wished to employ in her restaurant, but her request was refused by an administrative authority. She appealed to the administrative court and requested an oral hearing. The administrative court dismissed her complaint and held that an oral hearing would not have been likely to help clarify her case.
Law – Article 6 § 1: The administrative court which decided the applicant’s appeal was the first and only tribunal to deal with her case. She had therefore been entitled, as a matter of principle, to a public oral hearing. The Court could not find that the subject matter of the impugned proceedings was of such a nature, namely highly technical or purely legal, as to dispense with the obligation to hold a hearing.
Conclusion: violation (unanimously).
Article 41: Claim in respect of pecuniary damage dismissed.
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This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.
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