DELCOURT v. BELGIUM JUDGMENT 10 paragraphs 22 and 23; Matznetter judgment of 10th November 1969, "As to the Law" paragraph 13). In another case the Court considered, but did not find it necessary to decide, the question whether cassation proceedings ought to be taken into account in appreciating the duration of a hearing for the purpose of applying the provision in Article 6 para. 1 (art. 6-1) requiring a hearing within a "reasonable time" (Wemhoff judgment of 27th June 1968, "As to the Law" paragraphs 18 and 20; see also Neumeister judgment, "As to the Law" paragraph 19). Now, however, the Court is called on to rule on the applicability of Article 6 (art. 6) to proceedings in cassation, though in a different context. 24. The Government’s arguments are based, essentially on the words "bien-fondé de toute accusation" ("in the determination of any criminal charge against him") which delimit the scope of the application of Article 6 para. 1 (art. 6-1) in criminal cases. Article 95 of the Belgian Constitution provides that the Court of Cassation "does not deal with the merits of the cases submitted to it". Accordingly, in the Government’s view there is not, strictly speaking, a prosecution or a defence before that Court: prosecution and defence cease to exist the moment that the judges dealing with the merits give judgment in final instance, subject to the possibility of their being reborn in the event of the Court of Cassation referring a case back to a lower court after quashing the decision attacked. For the rest, the Court of Cassation does not go into the substance of the offences alleged against accused persons and judges not persons but judgments in regard to which it confines itself to supervising their validity. That Court does not therefore determine criminal charges ("bien-fondé de toute accusation"). This is always the position save only in certain exceptional matters which are irrelevant to the present case. 25. The Court cannot accept this view. Judicial decisions always affect persons. In criminal matters, especially, accused persons do not disappear from the scene when the decision of the judges at first instance or appeal gives rise to an appeal in cassation. Although the judgment of the Court of Cassation can only confirm or quash such decision - and not reverse it or replace it - that judgment may rebound in different degrees on the position of the person concerned. He loses his status of a convicted person or, as the case may be, the benefit of his acquittal, at any rate provisionally, when a decision is set aside and the case is referred back to a trial court. A judgment in cassation sometimes has even more direct repercussions on the fate of an accused. If the highest court dismisses the appeal in cassation, the acquittal or conviction becomes final. If the Court of Cassation allows the appeal without ordering the case to be sent back, because, for example, the facts which led to the conviction do not constitute an offence known to the law (see Article 429 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the judicial decisions given thereon), then by its own sole decision it puts an end to the prosecution.