SELMOUNI v. FRANCE JUDGMENT 34 conduct of the proceedings, notwithstanding the seriousness of the facts alleged. 114. The Government acknowledged that the case was not in itself particularly complex from a legal point of view, but submitted that the very serious nature of the facts and the status of the persons charged had justified handling the proceedings in a special way, which had contributed to prolonging them. In the present case it had been deemed necessary to order that the case be transferred to a different court out of a concern for the “proper administration of justice” (see the Boddaert v. Belgium judgment of 12 October 1992, Series A no. 235-D). As to the conduct of the applicant himself, the Government agreed with the Commission that he had not contributed to prolonging the length of the proceedings. With regard to the conduct of the judicial authorities, the Government submitted that the investigation had been conducted without interruption until 1 March 1994, the date on which the Bobigny investigating judge had sent the file to the public prosecutor’s office. During the phase when the case was pending in a different court the authorities had also acted diligently. After 22 June 1994, the date on which an investigating judge at the Versailles tribunal de grande instance was appointed, the Government admitted that there had been delays in the conduct of the case, but submitted that they were not attributable to the investigating judge alone. The Government did not dispute that the overall length of the proceedings had been excessive, whereas the seriousness of the allegations had undoubtedly called for special diligence throughout the investigation. 115. The Commission considered that the case was not particularly complex, notwithstanding the extremely serious nature of the facts and the status of the persons ultimately charged, namely police officers accused of acts committed in the performance of their duties. As regards the applicant’s conduct, there was nothing to suggest that he had contributed to prolonging the proceedings. As regards the judicial authorities’ conduct, the Commission also considered that the case had been handled differently according to the period under consideration. On the one hand, it had been conducted with due diligence until 22 June 1994, the date on which an investigating judge at the Versailles tribunal de grande instance was appointed. On the other hand, there had been a second period, coinciding with the Versailles investigating judge’s handling of the investigation, in which the authorities had failed to take all positive measures and employ the necessary diligence, regard being had to the seriousness of the allegations and the length of time which had elapsed since the events in issue.