Rustavi 2 Broadcasting Company Ltd and Others v. Georgia

Information Note on the Court’s case-law 231July 2019Rustavi 2 Broadcasting Company Ltd and Others v. Georgia - 16812/17Judgment 18.7.2019 [Section V]Article 6Civil proceedingsArticle 6-1Impartial tribunalIndependent tribunalAlleged bias of judges at three levels of jurisdiction in dispute regarding ownership of a television station: no violationFacts – The applicants, the former owners of a television station, Rustavi 2, complained that the examination of an ownership dispute regarding the station had not been conducted by an independent and impartial court either at the first, appellate or cassation levels of jurisdiction. Law – Article 6 § 1(a) Independence and impartiality of the first level of jurisdiction – The applicants had asserted that, being aware that the first instance judge had been the only civil judge specialising in intellectual-property disputes on duty at the City Cour …