Fair trial rights in proceedings concerning fines for fishing in Slovenian waters

In the case of Makovac and Latin v. Slovenia the Court held that there had been no violation of the right to a fair trial in respect of the first applicant and that there had been a violation in respect of the second applicant.

The case concerned Croatian commercial fishing workers’ complaints about the proceedings concerning fines against them for illegally entering and fishing in Slovenian waters. They argued that there had been a breach of their defence rights in the minor offence proceedings against them, in particular that there had been no hearings in their cases.

The ECHR found that it had been legitimate for the Slovenian courts to do without an oral hearing to convict first applicant. Her conviction had been based on, among other things, photographs with two recognisable individuals which she could have challenged. Second applicant’s conviction had, however, been based on his being identified by a fisheries inspector and unspecified social media posts. An oral hearing would have been essential to put that evidence to the test.

• Press release
• Press release (in Slovenian)