LETELLIER v. FRANCE JUDGMENT 11 B. The trial proceedings 26. On 26 August 1987 the indictments division committed the applicant for trial on a charge of "having, in the course of 1985 in Val-de-Marne, being less than ten years ago, been an accessory to the premeditated murder of Bernard Merdy committed on 6 July 1985 by Gérard Moysan, inasmuch as she had by gifts, promises, threats, misuse of authority or power, incited the commission of this deed or given instructions for its commission". 27. On 9 September 1987 the Créteil public prosecutor’s office advised Mrs Letellier’s counsel that "the case [was] liable to be heard during the first quarter of 1988". By a letter of 21 October 1987, however, the lawyer in question gave notice that he would be unavailable from 1 February to 15 March 1988 on account of his participation in another trial before the Assize Court of the Vienne département. 28. On 23 March 1988 the public prosecutor informed the accused’s lawyer that the case would be heard on 9 and 10 May 1988. On 10 May 1988 the Val-de-Marne Assize Court sentenced Mrs Letellier to three years’ imprisonment for being an accessory to murder. It sentenced Mr Moysan to fifteen years’ imprisonment for murder and acquitted Mr Bredon. The applicant did not file an appeal on points of law; she was released on 17 May 1988, the pre-trial detention being automatically deducted from the sentence (Article 24 of the Criminal Code). II. THE RELEVANT LEGISLATION 29. The provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure concerning detention on remand, as applicable at the material time, are as follows: Article 144 "In cases involving less serious criminal offences (matière correctionnelle), if the sentence risked is equal to or exceeds one year’s imprisonment in cases of flagrante delicto, or two years’ imprisonment in other cases, and if the constraints of court supervision are inadequate in regard to the functions set out in Article 137, the detention on remand may be ordered or continued: 1o where the detention on remand of the accused is the sole means of preserving evidence or material clues or of preventing either pressure being brought to bear on the witnesses or the victims, or collusion between the accused and accomplices; 2o where this detention is necessary to preserve public order from the disturbance caused by the offence or to protect the accused, to put an end to the offence or to prevent its repetition or to ensure that the accused remains at the disposal of the judicial authorities. ... ."