Day 157 - 18 Jul 95 - Page 47
1 for their article 10, freedom of expression."
2
3 That does not arise here. Going to the beginning of the
4 next paragraph:
5
6 "The applicants invoke article 6 of the
7 Convention, article 14 of the Convention (Wealth
8 Discrimination) and article 13, alleging a lack
9 of effective domestic remedies".
10
11 My Lord, 13 does not arise here either.
12
13 "The applicants seek to distinguish their case
14 from The Commission's previous case law in which
15 the absence of legal aid in defamation cases was
16 not found to breach article 6 of the Convention,
17 because, in their case, they did not initiate
18 the defamation proceedings but are the unwilling
19 defendants in a case brought against them by a
20 large business.
21
22 The law:
23
24 (1) The applicants have complained that they are
25 denied effective access to court by virtue of an
26 absence of legal aid or simplified procedures
27 for defamation proceedings and a possible
28 unlimited nature of an award of damages."
29
30 Of course, that last phrase has no application to this
31 case, as your Lordship knows.
32
33 "Article 6.1 of the Convention guarantees a fair
34 hearing in the determination of civil rights and
35 obligations and implicitly access to court.
36 Although the Convention does not guarantee a
37 right as such to legal aid in civil cases,
38 effective access to court must be ensured. The
39 means by which a state does serve is within its
40 margin of appreciation.
41
42 The Commission has already had occasion to
43 consider the lack of legal aid for defamation
44 proceedings in the English legal aid system and
45 it has held as follows:
46
47 The Commission notes that even where" -- and
48 this is a quotation from an earlier case,
49 I think the case of Golder -- "The Commission
50 notes that even where legal aid may be available
51 for certain types of civil action it is
52 reasonable to impose conditions on its
53 availability involving, inter alia, the
54 financial situation of the litigant or the
55 prospects of success of the proceedings. The
56 Commission considers similarly that given the
57 limited financial resources of most civil legal
58 aid schemes it is not unreasonable to exclude
59 certain categories of legal proceedings from
60 this form of assistance. The fact that the
