In the case of Espírito Santo Silva Salgado v. Portugal the Court held that there had been no violation of the right to a fair trial / presumption of innocence.

The case concerned an application lodged by the former chair of the board of directors of the Banco Espírito Santo (“BES”), one of the most important private banks in Portugal, the collapse of which had been the subject of resolution action and had attracted considerable media attention. In the present case, the applicant complained about the administrative proceedings that had been brought against him by the Bank of Portugal, alleging that various public statements made by the governor of that bank at the relevant time had impaired his right to an independent and impartial tribunal and his right to be presumed innocent.

As to the Bank of Portugal’s alleged lack of impartiality, the Court took the view that the relevant question was whether the decision taken by that administrative authority had been reviewed by a judicial body with full jurisdiction. In that regard, it found that the applicant had been afforded the benefit of judicial scrutiny of sufficient scope for the purposes of the Convention. It further found that the statements made by the governor of the Bank of Portugal had not impaired the applicant’s right to be presumed innocent.

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