Wechselwirkungen zwischen Art. 6 EMRK und nationalem Strafverfahrensrecht

The right to a fair trial enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights and interpreted in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights guarantees the overall fairness of proceedings. Restrictions in the accused's specific rights of defence may therefore be compensated within the proceedings. Anna H. Albrecht infers from this standard of overall fairness that national law on criminal procedure and the requirements imposed on it by Art. 6 (1) and (3) ECHR interdepend. The extent of the Court's recognition of these interdependencies and their relation to the guarantee is highlighted by a comparison of how German and English law handle the defendant's right to be present at trial at the first instance.