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Portrait of Martin Sunnqvist. Photo.

Martin Sunnqvist

Professor

Portrait of Martin Sunnqvist. Photo.

Impartiality and Independence of Judges : The Development in European Case Law

Domares opartiskhet och oavhängighet : Utvecklingen i europeisk rättspraxis

Author

  • Martin Sunnqvist

Summary, in English

Both the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (CFR) include the right to a fair trial by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law. The exact meaning of the phrase ‘an independent and impartial tribunal established by law’ has developed in case law. In this article, I analyse how the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union have developed these brief statements into more detailed criteria. The approach is historical, that is, I analyse how law has developed, and I also base my analysis on older sources where independence and impartiality have developed. As a tool for assessing independence and impartiality, I introduce five different aspects: 1) Impartiality as a state of mind, 2) Procedural impartiality, 3) Independence as a state of mind, 4) Institutional independence, and 5) The importance of appearances.

Department/s

  • Human Rights Law
  • Public Law
  • Legal history
  • Department of Law

Publishing year

2022-08-31

Language

English

Pages

67-95

Publication/Series

Nordic Journal of European Law

Volume

5

Issue

1

Document type

Journal article

Topic

  • Law

Keywords

  • Independence of judges
  • Impartiality
  • Rule of law
  • ECHR
  • EU law
  • Domarnas oberoende
  • Oavhängighet
  • Rättssäkerhet
  • EKMR
  • EU-lag

Status

Published

Project

  • Att bedöma andra domares oavhängighet. Historiska fundament och praktiska tillvägagångssätt vid mötandet av hoten mot rättsstaten i Europa

Research group

  • Human Rights Law
  • Public Law
  • Legal history

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 2003-1785