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The author analyzes the impact of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights on law enforcement practice in the field of exercising the right to a fair trial. The article considers the consequences of Russia's withdrawal from the Council of Europe in the context of the possibility of continuing to use the legal positions of the ECtHR to determine the criteria for a fair trial., Автором анализируется влияние решений Европейского Суда по правам человека на правоприменительную практику в сфере реализации права на справедливое судебное разбирательство. В статье рассмотрены последствия выхода России из Совета Европы в контексте возможности продолжения использования правовых позиций ЕСПЧ для определения критериев справедливого судебного разбирательства.

In the EncroChat operation, French law enforcement authorities collected over 120 million messages from 60.000 EncroChat users. They cooperated with Dutch law enforcement authorities and Europol in a Joint Investigation Team. In the Netherlands, EncroChat data has already been used in over 200 criminal cases. This article examines what lessons can be learned from the Dutch experience with the EncroChat operation from a human rights perspective, in particular the right to a fair trial.

Nije svaka preinačujuća presuda žalbenog suda koja svojim sadržajem neugodno iznenadi koju od stranaka ujedno i presuda iznenađenja (njemački Überraschungsurteil). Štoviše, trebala bi biti riječ o neželjenoj iznimci. Preinačujuća bi presuda bila presuda iznenađenja ako bi je žalbeni sud donio na temelju pravne ocjene spora bitno različite od one o kojoj se u postupku raspravljalo, a koju ni savjesna i brižljiva stranka nije mogla razumno predvidjeti. Isto tako, o presudi bi iznenađenja bila riječ ako bi je žalbeni sud zasnovao na činjenicama i dokazima o kojima strankama nije bila pružena razumna mogućnost da se o njima izjasne. Presuda je iznenađenja zabranjena jer je u protivnosti s postulatima pravičnog postupka. Zato bi protiv preinačujuće presude žalbenog suda koja je ujedno i presuda iznenađenja Vrhovni sud u povodu prijedloga svakako trebao dopustiti reviziju, a iznenađenoj bi stranci pravnu zaštitu, ako bi to propustio učiniti revizijski sud, trebali pružiti Ustavni sud i Europski sud za ljudska prava., Not every decision of the appellate court varying the first instance judgement which comes as an unpleasant surprise to either party necessarily constitutes what is known as a surprise judgment (German: Überraschungsurteil). On the contrary, a surprise judgment should only be a rare, undesired exception. A varying judgment may be considered a surprised judgment only if the appellate court changed the legal classification of the case from that in the original case into one that a diligent party could not reasonably have foreseen. Also, a surprise judgment would also refer to cases in which the appellate court based its ruling on facts and evidence on which the parties had not been given a reasonable opportunity to comment. Surprise judgments are prohibited as they are in conflict with the postulates of fair trial. According to the case of law of the European Court of Human Rights, each party must be given a reasonable opportunity to comment on all relevant aspects of the case, not only in respect of evidence, but also in respect of the legal issues, i.e. an opportunity to participate effectively in the proceedings. It is to be emphasised that this also refers to legal arguments raised ex officio by the court. The principle iura novit curia cannot be an excuse for not allowing the parties to participate in a debate concerning the legal issues. However, this is not to say that the court should necessarily declare its legal positions to the parties. This duty exists only as an exception; for instance, in order to inform the parties of its intention to deviate from the case law or legal positions announced expressly or implicitly, or in legally intricate cases or cases involving issues with no relevant case law. The point is that the legal reasoning of the court must be reasonably foreseeable in view of the arguments which had been raised during the course of the proceedings by the opposing parties or by the court itself. Certainly, a party to civil proceedings is expected to display due diligence him/herself in that regard. If the legal classification of the case could not have been foreseen by the party as a diligent party, it constitutes a surprise judgment. If legal arguments which had been pursued by the court could not be regarded as substantially different from the observations submitted by the parties during the course of the proceedings, there is no breach of the adversarial principle. These postulates of fair trial refer to all courts, not only appellate ones, but the prohibition of surprise judgments bears special significance in the context of varying judgments of appellate courts considering their immediate effect of rendering the matter res iudicata. The Supreme Court should by all means allow a second appeal against a varying judgment of an appellate court which constitutes a surprise judgment, and if it should fail to provide a remedy to the surprised party, a remedy should invariably be provided by the Constitutional Court or the European Court of Human Rights.

There exists widespread misunderstanding about the nature of computers and how and why they are liable to fail. The present approach to the disclosure or discovery and evaluation of evidence produced by computers in legal proceedings is unsatisfactory. The central problem is the evidential presumption that computers are reliable. This presumption is not warranted. To this end, recommendations are proposed to rectify this problem with the aim of increasing the probability of a fair trial. Index words: electronic evidence; computer systems; disclosure; discovery; recommendations for judges; fairness of legal proceedings

Compounds that selectively modulate multiple targets can provide clinical benefits and are an alternative to traditional highly selective agents for unique targets. High-throughput screening (HTS) for multitarget-directed ligands (MTDLs) using approved drugs, and fragment-based drug design has become a regular strategy to achieve an ideal multitarget combination. However, the unexpected presence of pan-assay interference compounds (PAINS) suspects in the development of MTDLs frequently results in nonspecific interactions or other undesirable effects leading to artefacts or false-positive data of biological assays. Publicly available filters can help to identify PAINS suspects; however, these filters cannot comprehensively conclude whether these suspects are “bad” or innocent. Additionally, these in silico approaches may inappropriately label a ligand as PAINS. More than 80% of the initial hits can be identified as PAINS by the filters if appropriate biochemical tests are not used resulting in false positive data that are unacceptable for medicinal chemists in manuscript peer review and future studies. Therefore, extensive offline experiments should be used after online filtering to discriminate “bad” PAINS and avoid incorrect evaluation of good scaffolds. We suggest that the use of “Fair Trial Strategy” to identify interesting molecules in PAINS suspects to provide certain structure‒function insight in MTDL development., Graphical abstract PAINS result in nonspecific interactions or other undesirable effects. The use of “Fair Trial Strategy” to identify interesting molecules in PAINS to provide certain structure‒function insight in multitarget-directed ligand (MTDL) development.Image 1

Even though approximately 97% of criminal offences are finalised in the summary jurisdiction, the High Court has only considered the nature of summary jurisdiction once: in 1930 in Munday v Gill. I...

Appeal proceedings in criminal cases are regulated in various ways by European legislators. The ECtHR case law does not impose any particular model of appeal proceedings; however, Article 6 is applicable to appeal proceedings and the manner of its application is contingent on the specific features of the proceedings in question. One of the key problems in this respect is the way the issue of the reformatory powers of appellate courts is regulated. This article seeks to reconstruct the rules worked out in the Strasbourg Court’s case law pertaining to this matter, as well as to formulate proposals as regards applying the principle of immediacy in appeal proceedings and the issue of the appellate court’s differing assessment of facts established by the court of first instance. The possible developments of case law in this area are also discussed.

Australian States and Territories continue to reform criminal procedure to provide assistance to vulnerable witnesses in an attempt to ensure they provide the best possible evidence. In response to...

Forensic determination of the worth of various objects involved in legal proceedings is essential for ensuring a fair trial. Determining the worth of mass-produced goods does not usually pose any difficulties. The situation is different for unique cultural values and items that are in particular demand among collectors, history buffs, and others, but are withdrawn from civil circulation for moral reasons.The article analyzes the most significant aspects of the current market of cultural values, considers the methodological foundations of the forensic assessment of the worth of cultural values, mainly works of fine and applied art. The authors substantiate the necessity for a comprehensive forensic examination of cultural values due to the requirement for preliminary identification of the authenticity of items, their author, circumstances, and time of creation. The types of research necessary for this have been identified, such as traceological, documentary, materials analysis, historical, art, and others.The paper shows that forensic assessment of the worth of the items withdrawn from civil circulation based on the data on their worth on the black (illegal) market or on the legal markets of countries where the circulation of such items is not legally prohibited is inadmissible. The prohibition on using information about events that occurred after assessing the worth of cultural property is substantiated.

The justice system is increasingly reliant on new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI). In the field of criminal law this also extends to the methods utilized by police for preventing crime. Though policing is not explicitly covered by Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights, this article will demonstrate that there can be adverse effects of policing on fair trial rights and make the analogy to criminal investigations as a recognized pre-trial process. Specifically, it will argue that policing that relies on AI to predict crime has direct effects on fair trial processes such as the equality of arms, the presumption of innocence, and the right to confront the evidence produced against a defendant. It will conclude by challenging the notion that AI is always an appropriate tool for legal processes.

Статья предлагает для обсуждения проблему обеспечения дополнительных гарантий права судей на справедливое судебное разбирательство. Показаны проблемы с обращением в суд судей по общегражданским делам и особенности судебной защиты судьи в соответствие с его статусом. The article proposes for discussion the problem of providing additional guarantees of the right of judges to a fair trial. The problems with the appeal of judges in civil cases and the peculiarities of judicial protection of a judge in accordance with his status are shown.

The High Court of England and Wales in its November 2020 judgment in Municipio de Mariana v BHP Group1 (BHP) declined jurisdiction to hear the case initiated by victims of the Fundão Dam collapse in Brazil on the grounds of abuse of process. The decision raises serious questions about the Court’s willingness to vindicate the fair trial rights of victims of human rights abuses linked to multinational enterprises (MNEs). In this judgment, Turner J also made obiter comments on the possibility of staying the case on application of Article 34 of the Recast Brussels Regulation (Recast Regulation),2 the doctrine of forum non conveniens (FNC), and/or the Court’s case management discretion.

This is a statement by the European Criminal Bar Association on the use of Video-Conferencing in Criminal Cases in a Post-Covid-19 World. It addresses the topic using a two-fold distinction between the use of remote hearings in domestic and in cross-border cases, on one hand, and the use of such of remote technology for conducting interviews of the suspect or accused in the pre-trial stages or at trial hearings, on the other hand. Recognising that these distinctive settings impact differently upon the seriousness of the interference with the fair trial rights and the rights of defence of the suspect or accused, and also upon the circumstances that must be weighed in order to assess whether restrictions are proportionate, adequate and necessary, the European Criminal Bar Association assesses whether the use of remote technologies in those different settings is acceptable and outlines proposals for further action in the field.

The role of the lawyer is characterized by a focus on counseling, advocacy and conciliation. A lawyer advises a client on legal issues, considers the possibilities of resolving the dispute amicably and certainly advocates in a legal proceedings if this occurs. In order the previously mentioned activities between the client and lawyer to be achieved, it is necessary to establish a mutual connection. Talking about a lawyer`s capability of fulfilling the role of a counsel and client's representative, he/she must be independent in his/her work, especially having professional independence in relation to courts, state bodies, but also in relation to his/her own interests. It is this independence that represents a significant foundation in gaining trust in the client-lawyer relationship. Achieving trust is not easy, although it is a priori expected. In order to gain trust and to be able to access an adequate representation in a legal proceedings, the lawyer's obligation is to keep the lawyer's secret and not to disclose confidential information. A lawyer's secret can be considered from several aspects, from the moral, contractual, ethical... In this research, certain important theoretical frameworks will be considered, with the focus on presenting and reviewing the international, primarily European legislative regulation of the issue of legal secrecy. This paper will certainly include the aspect of domestic legislation too. In addition to the above, some important positions of the European Court of Human Rights will be pointed out. Before presenting the conclusions emerged from this research, a special attention will be paid to the circumstances when a lawyer can reveal a secret.

Right to fair trial is considered as the basic right affirmed by Islam and recognised by different international documents i.e., ICCPR, UDHR, etc. In Pakistan, the notion of fair trial has been incorporated through Article 10-A through 18th constitutional amendment. The two amendments were made in the US Constitution in 18th and 19th century i.e., 6th and 14th amendments which safeguards right to speedy trial, impartial jury, public trial and equal protection of law. The Investigation for Fair Trial Act, 2013, permits the use of new methods in collection of evidence and also bridles arbitrary powers from being used. However, being dissimilar to the essence of the Constitution, 21st Amendment was made to adopt Pakistan Army Act, 2015 in order to control the extremism. The key purpose of the article is to assess how far the efforts for the enforcement of right to fair trial in Pakistan are sufficient?

Germany is one of few jurisdictions with a bifurcated patent system, under which infringement and validity of a patent are established in separate proceedings. Because validity proceedings normally take longer to conclude, it can occur that remedies for infringement are imposed before a decision on the patent’s validity is available. This phenomenon is colloquially known as the ‘injunction gap’ and has been the subject of increasing criticism over the past years. In this article, I examine the injunction gap from the perspective of the right to a fair trial enshrined in Art. 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. I find that the case law of the European Court of Human Rights interpreting this provision supports criticism of the injunction gap, because imposing infringement remedies with potentially far-reaching consequences before the validity of a patent has been established by a court of law arguably violates defendants’ right to be heard. Such reliance on the patent office’s grant decision is no longer warranted in the light of contemporary invalidation rates. I conclude that the proliferation of the injunction gap should be curbed by an approach to a stay of proceedings which is in line with the test for stays as formulated by Germany’s Federal Supreme Court. Under this test, courts should stay infringement proceedings until the Federal Patent Court or the EPO’s Board of Appeal have ruled on the validity of a patent whenever it is more likely than not that it will be invalidated.

The novelty lies in the author's assessment of the impact of international human rights standards and a fair trial procedure not only on the criminal justice itself, but also on the entire system of relations between the state and the individual, as well as in a critical analysis of clauses found in the literature on possible restrictions on the application of the European Court's practice on human rights in Russia. The aim of the work is to substantiate the unconditionally positive influence of international human rights and justice standards on the Russian criminal justice system and the relationship between the state, the individual and society. The objective is to demonstrate, using examples from the literature and practice of the European Court of Human Rights, the undoubtedly positive impact of the application in Russia of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and decisions of the European Court of Human Rights on Russian criminal justice and on all practical jurisprudence in Russia. The article uses the methods of system analysis and synthesis, comparative legal and historical methods. As a result, the author's conclusions about the inadmissibility and inappropriateness of limiting the operation on the territory of Russia of international human rights standards and fair trial procedures expressed in the European Convention and court decisions of the European Court have been substantiated. In conclusion, these brief conclusions are formulated.

According to the traditional view, the ultimate aim of the extraordinary review (recurso de revision) provided in the Spanish justice system was to deal with wrongful criminal convictions and correct those serious miscarriages of justice which became apparent only after the judgment had become final. However, the 2015 reform called this traditional view into question by formally including two additional grounds for review that are not necessarily related to the correcting miscarriages or blatant mistakes in the assessment of the facts made by the sentencing court. This paper aims to give an overview of the extraordinary review in Spain. To that end it will first address the legal framework and its practical implementation, as well as present pitfalls and best practices. Finally, future trends and challenges will be identified in order to improve the protection of defendants who have suffered a wrongful conviction.

Although Pakistan is considered as one of two states created in name of religion and concieved to be a place where Islam and other religions can be prcticed without fear and repraisal, yet the development of Shariah principles in the legal arena of country and the fabric of society is far from achievable. Fair Trial rights have remained at the backstage of legal concerns in the country, largely considered as a ‘luxury’ of developed societies. Yet the introduction of Article 10-A has started the conformation of basic rights in Pakistan. Although human value and integrity is at the core of rights developed in Shariah, yet the inclusion and provision of fair trial rights in Pakistan needs much improvement and adaptation.

Human rights systems are often assessed on the substantive rights they provide rather than the remedies available when those rights are violated. This article traces the developments of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights’ remedies regime in fair trial cases between 2015 and 2018. Three typologies are identified and further analysed in light of the remedies regimes of other regional human rights systems. Although the African Court initially relied on the Inter-American system, adapting its approach over time, it remains to be seen in which direction the (r)evolution of the African Court's remedies will go next.

The right to fair trial is inherent in the concept of due process of law, which now forms part of Article 21 of Indian Constitution after the Maneka Gandhi judgement. Pertinently attached with the same comes the responsibility of the criminal system to treat victims with increased awareness and sensitivity. However, the established convention shows that in planning and developing administration of criminal justice, proper attention is not given to the victims of crime in achieving goals of criminal justice; the major cause of it being that a victim is heard only as a witness not as a victim. A credible response to the said issue has emerged in the form of victim impact statement (VIS) in the modern legal system across the world. With that being said, the researchers through this article try to deduce the need for incorporating a VIS in India through the various jurisprudential understandings of what it means to be a victim, including the gap between the subjective experience of the sufferer and the interpretation of the same by others, and what restorative justice would mean to heal a victim. Establishing upon the same premise of victim status, the researchers try to suggest that the introduction of VIS, with the primary purpose of it being a therapeutic tool and not an instrument of changing the course of justice, will serve to make us reconsider our contours of a ‘victim’.

Whether preliminary inquiry should be conducted following completion of criminal investigation was one of the issues that arose in criminal proceedings of leaders of some opposition parties who were arrested (in June and July 2020) following the assassination of Hachalu Hundessa. The Court accepted the request of the Office of the Attorney General for the holding of preliminary inquiry. While the request of the Office of the Attorney General and the ruling of the court are consistent with the 1961 Criminal Procedure Code, in view of the unique nature of the Ethiopian Preliminary Inquiry, both the request and the ruling adversely affect the right of the accused to a fair trial. The application of the law regulating preliminary inquiry would be a departure from the principle of equality of arms and the right of the accused to confrontation, both of which are elements of the right to a fair trial. It is argued (in this comment) that using evidence obtained during preliminary inquiry against the accused is inconsistent with the FDRE Constitution and relevant international legal instruments.

The article refers to the problem of compliance with the fair trial criteria of the restrictions to access to review of court decisions by the court of cassation. The author discloses the vision of the legal grounds for cassation proceedings admissibility and emphasizes on the importance of complying with the fair trial requirements due to ensuring the consistency and uniformity of the Supreme Court’s cassation complaints admissibility practice.

Pluralism has been recognised by the European Court of Human Rights as a guiding principle for the interpretation and application of the European Convention on Human Rights, being inseparably linke...

This article presents judicial perspectives on the relevance of Gross National Happiness (GNH) to the judiciary and its ideological significance in the specific context of ensuring fair trials to s...

In Seychelles, the taking of fingerprints is governed by sections 30A, 30B and 30C of the Criminal Procedure Code. Section 30B provides, inter alia, that a police officer may take a sample from a person in custody after seeking his consent and informing him of the right to refuse to give the sample (fingerprint). In Jean François Adrienne & Another v. R the Seychellois Court of Appeal for the first time dealt with the question of the admissibility of fingerprint evidence obtained in violation of the Criminal Procedure Code. The purpose of this article is to assess this judgment and highlight ways in which it is likely to affect the manner in which courts will deal with fingerprint evidence in the future.

In accordance with its nature and specificity, the federal sports movement has progressively institutionalized a "closed-type justice system" whose purpose is to resolve most sports disputes within it, according to the procedural rules established by domestic courts. The reasons for such a purpose are multiple and legitimate: understanding the nature and specifics of the dispute, the duration of the proceedings, avoiding judicial fees, the possibility of "choosing" the judge, etc. Sports justice today presents itself as a jurisdictional system based on both legal and sporting norms, governed by the classical principles of a fair trial and consisting of all jurisdictional commissions with genuine powers in sports juris-dictio.

The subject of this research is the norms of international legal acts, legislations of the EU member-states, decisions of foreign national courts, as well as decisions of the European Court on Human Rights and European Court of Justice. A hypothesis is advanced that within the framework of the European arrest warrant there are new trends associated namely with the desire to strengthen the system of protection of rights of the extradited individuals, which can negatively affect functionality of the procedure as a whole. Thus, a number of cases of the national courts (for example Artur Celmer case) and Court of the European Union (Pál Aranyosi and Robert Căldăraru case), as well as provisions of the constitutional courts lead to the fact that the principle of mutual recognition of court decision is used with caution. The article examines the case law of national courts of the EU member-states, as well as practice of the European Court of Justice and European arrest warrant. The author compared the decisions of the aforementioned courts for confirming the hypothesis that the protection of extradited individuals plays a significant role in the context of operation of the European arrest warrant. The intention to provide legal guarantees to individuals extradited in the context of the European arrest warrant, which loses its main influence; particularly the procedure is interrupted due to absence of guarantees of protection of rights in case of extradition, as well as raises doubt towards judicial systems and their decisions of some EU member-states brought forth by political actions of these countries. Moreover, protection of rights and guarantee of fair trial increases.

In Seychelles, the general rule is that domestic courts do not have jurisdiction over offences committed abroad. However, there are exceptions to that rule and one of them relates to the offence of piracy committed on the high seas. Section 65(1) of the Seychelles Penal Code creates the offence of piracy which is committed “within Seychelles or elsewhere” and section 65(2) provides that “the courts of Seychelles shall have jurisdiction to try an offence of piracy…whether the offence is committed within the territory of Seychelles or outside the territory of Seychelles.” On the basis of section 65, many suspected pirates have been prosecuted in Seychelles. Closely related to the issue of prosecuting suspected pirates is the question of whether their trial was fair. The right to a fair trial and public hearing is provided for under Article 19 of the Constitution. There are many piracy cases in which Seychellois courts have dealt with the issue of the right to a fair trial. The rights which have featured prominently are: the right to be tried by a competent court and the jurisdiction of Seychellois courts to try piracy committed on the high seas; the right against double jeopardy; the right to examine witnesses and challenge evidence; right to remain silent; the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty; and the right to be informed in detail of the nature of the offence. The purpose of this article is to assess the jurisprudence in question and, where appropriate, suggest ways in which Seychellois courts could better protect the right to fair trial of those accused of committing piracy.

The article reveals the genesis of scientific research on the return of the indictment and the petition for the application of coercive measures of a medical or educational nature to the prosecutor. Analysed the most well-known work on proving in criminal proceedings and on the return of the indictment and the petition for the application of coercive measures of a medical or educational nature to the prosecutor. The features of the historical genesis of scientific developments on these issues are revealed. The return of the indictment and the request for the use of compulsory measures of the medical or educational character of the prosecutor during the preparatory proceedings is an independent institution, which causes regulatory and substantive difficulties in practical application. Thus, research into the genesis of returning an indictment and requesting the use of compulsory measures by a medical or educational character of a prosecutor will help to understand the institution in our country, identify the features and the need for possible optimization in the future. It was concluded that the genesis of scientific research of the institute for the return of the indictment and the petition for the application of coercive measures of a medical or educational nature to the prosecutor in the system of the current rules of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine and generally accepted principles and norms of international law should be considered as one of the important elements of fair trial.

The incidence of stock theft has been high in Botswana, as it is elsewhere in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). In 1996, the problem compelled the country’s parliament to i...

Since 2017, China has endorsed a policy of promoting full-coverage legal representation for all individuals facing criminal charges. This article is the first study which examines the nature, manif...

This article examines the legal framework for the grant and exercise of the right to self-representation in criminal proceedings in Ghana, using a doctrinal research approach. It finds that the exa...

This article deals with the requirements of a fair trial while taking evidence in court. In particular, it outlines the content and scope of rights when examining defence or prosecution witnesses, and procuring documentary or other material evidence. Furthermore, it explores the extent to which confidential information or state secrets may be protected during the taking of evidence in court, and the limits placed on the application of such protective measures by the defence’s right to a fair trial.

In a scientific article, the authors analyze the nature of the institution of a special order of decision-making with the consent of the accused with the charge brought; an attempt was made to assess the special order in terms of a fair trial; the most controversial issues concerning the essence of a special order are considered. Attention is drawn to the fact that the special procedure is deprived of such basic principles of a fair trial as publicity, adversariality, ensuring the accused's right to defense, the direct examination of evidence by the court, the motivation of the court decision, the presumption of innocence, etc. Since in a special procedure only indirect research takes place evidence with the participation of only the court in the absence of a "dispute", then the establishment of the truth in a criminal case becomes secondary and becomes very difficult. The lack of a full-fledged judicial investigation deprives the special order of the opportunity to fit into the framework of a fair trial as a continental model of criminal justice. The authors came to the conclusion that the institution of a special order does not fit into the concept of a fair trial, and the purpose of its existence does not justify the risks of negative consequences of the increase in cases considered in this form every year.

The state of emergency was declared in the Republic of Serbia on 15 March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which lasted until 6 May 2020. During the state of emergency, certain human rights were restricted and suspended, which are otherwise protected and guaranteed by the Constitution. One of the measures introduced by the state was the possibility for the defendant to attend the main hearing via Skype. The basic question arises whether the right to a fair trial is violated in this way, since it is one of the rights that cannot be limited or suspended even during a state of emergency. In this regard, this paper addresses the national legal framework under which trials are permitted and conducted via Skype during a state of emergency and relevant case law of the European Court of Human Rights.