74 GIULIANI AND GAGGIO v. ITALY JUDGMENT linked to the situation in which M.P. and F.C. found themselves” (see paragraphs 252-254 of the Chamber judgment). 3. Other alleged shortcomings in the domestic investigation 282. The applicants contended that there had been numerous other shortcomings in the domestic investigation. The Government contested this assertion. The Chamber did not consider it necessary to examine these issues (see paragraph 255 of the Chamber judgment). (a) The parties' submissions (i) The applicants 283. The applicants alleged that the investigation had lacked impartiality and independence, had not been thorough and, having resulted in a decision to discontinue the proceedings, had deprived them of a public hearing and hence of public scrutiny of the circumstances surrounding their relative's death. 284. In their request for the proceedings to be discontinued the prosecuting authorities had expressed uncertainty as to M.P.'s intentions when he fired the shots, finding that it was not possible to determine whether M.P. had simply wanted to frighten his assailants or had sought to defend himself by firing in their direction, accepting the risk that he might hit someone. According to the prosecuting authorities, it could have been a case of causing death by negligence, of knowingly taking the risk of killing someone or of intentional homicide. After dismissing the third possibility (without due explanation), the public prosecutor had concluded that M.P. had acted in self-defence and that a request should be made for the proceedings to be discontinued owing to the existence of “doubts” based on grounds of justification (see paragraphs 72-75 above). In the applicants' submission, the prosecuting authorities' lack of certainty regarding the establishment of the facts had made public proceedings and further investigation necessary. 285. The applicants conceded that they had been able to object to the public prosecutor's request to discontinue the proceedings and that following that objection a hearing had been held in private before the investigating judge. However, the hearing had been conducted in camera, with only the parties and their counsel allowed to attend. Furthermore, the investigating judge had had to take a decision on the basis of the evidence submitted by the prosecuting authorities, who had effectively accepted without question the version of events given by the law-enforcement agencies' representatives, without the injured party having the opportunity of questioning the accused, witnesses or experts. The investigating judge had established the facts on the basis of an anonymous account posted on a