Concern over fast-track trials

Date: 02/07/1998

By Simon Coss

FRANCE's 'fast-track' procedure for dealing with football hooligans may contravene the European Convention on Human Rights, warn civil liberties campaigners.

The UK-based group Fair Trials Abroad claims the speed with which suspected hooligans are brought to book could endanger their right to adequate legal representation and access to an interpreter.

"We can only express grave doubts whether the administrative requirements for these safeguards can be adequately incorporated into a fast-track system," said Fair Trials Abroad director Stephen Jakobi.

The issue has been highlighted by the French authorities' use of the procedure to deal with suspected troublemakers during the World Cup football competition.

French judicial experts confirm that the aim of the system is to ensure that only a "few days" pass between the time a person is arrested and, if found guilty, is sentenced.

The European convention is not technically part of the body of EU law, but many of the Union's member states - including France - have incorporated it into their national constitutions.

British Socialist MEP Richard Corbett has also expressed concern at French methods for dealing with suspected football hooligans. While stressing he has no evidence of foul play during the World Cup itself, Corbett points to the case of three Liverpool fans who were, in his view, wrongly arrested after a qualifying match in Strasbourg last October.

"There were language problems when the police were working out who did what and in my opinion they ended up charging the wrong men," he said.

But the French authorities insist the fast-track system is in line with the convention and that defendants' rights are respected. "It is true that the process is speeded up, but there is always the possibility for people to have a lawyer and an interpreter," said one French legal expert.

The French also point out that the speedy trial process was not specifically introduced for the World Cup and has been in place for several years.

"The system has never been condemned in the European Court of Human Rights," added the expert, referring to the Strasbourg-based institution which rules on complaints about alleged breaches of the convention.

France's 'fast-track' procedure for dealing with football hooligans may contravene the European Convention on Human Rights, warn civil liberties campaigners.