CASE OF SAAKASHVILI v. GEORGIA

FIFTH SECTIONCASE OF SAAKASHVILI v. GEORGIA(Applications nos. 6232/20 and 22394/20) JUDGMENT(Merits) Art 6 § 1 (criminal) and Art 6 § 3 (d) • Fair hearing • Independent and impartial tribunal • Examination of witnesses • Conviction of former president of Georgia in two separate sets of criminal proceedings for acts committed whilst in office (complicity in criminal battery and misuse of authority, and abuse of official authority due to his exercise of presidential clemency respectively) • Single-judge composition of first-instance court that convicted applicant of abuse of official authority not lacking independence or impartiality (objective/functional) • Clerical or otherwise technical functions of judicial assistant not to be confounded with judicial role • Professional (trained) judge better equipped to maintain requisite detachment than lay judge or juror • Applicant’s defence right …