The case concerns an application (application no. 24954/94) brought by a French national, Jaen-Marc Tierce, who was born in 1950 and lives in San Marino, and applications brought by two Italian nationals, Roberto Marra and Paola Gabrielli. Mr Marra was born in 1961 and lives in Viserba. Ms Gabrielli was born in 1950 and lives in Rimini.
On 7 May 1993 Mr Tierce was given a suspended prison sentence and ordered to pay a fine for fraud and misappropriation of seized property. The judicial investigation, the trial at first instance and the preparations for trial on appeal were all conducted by the same judge (the Commissario della Legge). On appeal the applicant was not called to give evidence.
Mr Marra and Ms Gabrielli were prosecuted for illegal possession of drugs. By a judgment of 26 April 1993, Mr Marra was sentenced to seven months’ imprisonment and Ms Gabrielli was acquitted with the benefit of the doubt. They appealed. On 24 August 1993, after an appeal hearing at which neither applicant was heard, Mr Marra was sentenced to one year and two months’ imprisonment and Ms Gabrielli to ten months’ imprisonment.
Relying on Article 6 § 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights, Mr Tierce complained that no public hearing was held before his appeal was dismissed. He further complained under Article 6 (right to a fair trial) that he had not been tried by an impartial tribunal, since the judge who had prepared the case for trial on appeal had previously conducted the judicial investigation and tried the case at first instance. Mr Marra and Ms Gabrielli complained under Article 6 § 1 that there had been no public hearing at the appeal stage.
Citation: Tierce and Others v San Marino (App no 24954/94, 24971/94 and 24972/94) ECHR 25 July 2000
(from the official press-release prepared by the Registry Office of the European Court of Human Rights)