Avenue de l'Europe
Laska and Lika v. Albania 
| 2010
The proceedings in question did not satisfy the requirements of a fair trial.
Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, April 2010
A robbery was carried out by three people wearing blue and white balaclavas. Vladimir Laska and Artur Lika were arrested by police but protested their innocence. The police put Mr Laska and Mr Lika in a line-up for witnesses but made them wear blue and white balaclavas – the colour worn by the criminals. Other people in the line-up wore black balaclavas.
Witnesses identified Mr Laska and Mr Lika as the robbers. This “identification” was then used to convict them in court.
The European court ruled that the identification line-up had involved blatant irregularities. The conviction of Mr Laska and Mr Lika had been based on fundamentally flawed evidence, which had violated their right to a fair trial.
The Code of Criminal Procedure was changed to require the authorities to go through proper procedures when identifying suspects and avoid false accusations.
Mr Laska and Mr Lika had a retrial. They were both cleared of all charges.
Hans Moor was exposed to asbestos during his work in the 1960s and 70s. This gave him cancer, which was diagnosed in 2004. Hans Moor died in 2005, aged 58. Just before his death, Mr Moor had brought a claim for damages against his former employer for failing to take precautions against exposure to asbestos. The claim was continued by his wife and children.
All of the Roma inhabitants of a village had their houses burnt down by other locals. The authorities were warned, but refused to intervene. After the attack, the authorities did not investigate properly and the courts failed to give the victims a fair trial. Their application to the European court led to compensation and local programmes to combat discrimination and exclusion.
Oleksandr Volkov was dismissed from his role as a Supreme Court judge. His lawyer argued that he had been the victim of political corruption, which sought to undermine the independence of the Ukrainian judiciary. The European court ruled that his dismissal had been filled with bias and manipulation, in breach of his basic rights. Mr Volkov was reinstated as a Supreme Court judge in 2015.
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