Information Note on the Court’s case-law 56
September 2003
Pabla Ky v. Finland (dec.) - 47221/99
Decision 16.9.2003 [Section IV]
Article 6
Civil proceedings
Article 6-1
Impartial tribunal
Independence and impartiality of a judge also a Member of Parliament: admissible
The applicant is a company running a restaurant, the premises of which were rented from an insurance company. An agreement was reached between the applicant and the insurance company to renovate more restaurant premises, for which the applicant had to pay an amount of money and its monthly rent was raised. Upon completion of the renovation works, the applicant considered they were unsatisfactory and did not correspond to the original plan. It instituted civil proceedings before the District Court, which rejected the applicant’s claim for compensation. The Court of Appeal upheld the District Court’s decision. One of the members of the Court of Appeal was also a Member of the Finnish Parliament at the time. Under the Parliament Act, there is incompatibility between being a Members of Parliament and holding certain high positions in the judiciary, but there are no restrictions on being a member of a Court of Appeal.
Admissible under Article 6 § 1.
© Council of Europe/European Court of Human Rights
This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.
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