The European Convention and Child Defendants

THE European Court of Human Rights' decisions T. v. The United Kingdom (16.12.1999 E.C.H.R. No. 24724/94) and V. v. The United Kingdom (16.12.1999 E.C.H.R. No. 24888/94) represent one of the ®nal stages in the notorious Bulger murder proceedings. The Court considered a number of applications by the defendants regarding the legality of their trial and sentences. The Court issued separate judgments for each applicant but, as they di€er only in the details, they are considered here together. There are two main decisions that are of particular signi®cance. The ®rst major ruling, by sixteen votes to one, was that the trial procedures to which the children were subject violated their right to a fair trial under Article 6.1 of the European Convention on Human Rights because they denied the children the opportunity to participate e€ectively in the trial, to consult and instruct counsel and to understand the proceedings. The Court criticised the fact that the children were tried in an adult courtroom, with judge and counsel in full regalia. They also criticised the fact that the trial was public, exposing the children to an intrusive press and hostile members of the public, who perpetrated various attacks on the boys during trial. The court recognised that the UK had tried to protect the children, but said that one such measureÐthe raised platformÐonly exposed them to greater scrutiny and embarrassment. The Court noted that both boys were su€ering post-traumatic stress disorder throughout the trial, which further limited their ability to understand or participate. In such circumstances, merely being represented by experienced counsel was insucient to ensure a fair trial. The Court was clearly