REVIEW OF THE COURT PRACTICE OF THE RIGHT OF THE ACCUSED TO HAVE HIS CASE CONSIDERED WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME

Author

Prof. Margarita Tchinova, LL.D.

Annotation

In her article,the author has made a thorough review of the European Court of Human Rights practices relating to the principle of hearing the cases within a reasonable time (Article 6 item 1 of the ECHR). The practices have been analyzed in the following aspects:

• starting point from which the relevant reasonable timeframe begins;
• ending point of the reasonable timeframe;
• assessingthe reasonability of the timeframe in view of the particular case;
• factors which determine the complexity of the case.

Acritical analysis is made of the practices of the SCC relating to the reasonable time, and the need is indicated of implementing compensatory mechanisms for protection in the event of failure to observe the requirement for reasonable timeframe in the handling of cases.

Keywords

ECHR, European Court of Human Rights, human rights, compensatory mechanisms, reasonable time, Article 6 item 1 of the ECHR

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