Judgment concerning Romania
In the case of Miron v. Romania the Court held that there had been no violation of the right to a fair trial.
The case concerned the fairness of criminal proceedings. The applicant alleged that the trial court which had convicted her had not taken evidence directly from either the witnesses or her co-defendants. The Court found that, in the circumstances of the case, and given the applicant’s approach to the proceedings and the counter-balancing measures taken by the judges adjudicating at both levels of jurisdiction, the courts’ use of a recording of the other witness testimonies in reaching their decisions was compatible with the requirements of the applicant’s right to a fair trial and had not impaired the essence of that right. Moreover, the availability of the audio recording in addition to the written record of those other witness testimonies had, in the present case, been able to provide an additional safeguard.