10 COLOZZA v. ITALY JUGDMENT established case-law, waiver of the exercise of a right guaranteed by the Convention must be established in an unequivocal manner (see the Neumeister judgment of 7 May 1974, Series A no. 17, p. 16, para. 36; the Le Compte, Van Leuven and De Meyere judgment of 23 June 1981, Series A no. 43, pp. 25-26, para. 59; the Albert and Le Compte judgment of 10 February 1983, Series A no. 58, p. 19, para. 35). In fact, the Court is not here concerned with an accused who had been notified in person and who, having thus been made aware of the reasons for the charge, had expressly waived exercise of his right to appear and to defend himself. The Italian authorities, relying on no more than a presumption (see paragraphs 12 and 20 above), inferred from the status of "latitante" which they attributed to Mr. Colozza that there had been such a waiver. In the Court’s view, this presumption did not provide a sufficient basis. Examination of the facts does not disclose that the applicant had any inkling of the opening of criminal proceedings against him; he was merely deemed to be aware of them by reason of the notifications lodged initially in the registry of the investigating judge and subsequently in the registry of the court. In addition, the attempts made to trace him were inadequate: they were confined to the flat where he had been sought in vain in 1972 (via Longanesi) and to the address shown in the Registrar-General’s records (via Fonteiana), yet it was known that he was no longer living there (see paragraphs 10 and 12 above). The Court here attaches particular importance to the fact that certain services of the Rome public prosecutor’s office and of the Rome police had succeeded, in the context of other criminal proceedings, in obtaining Mr. Colozza’s new address (see paragraph 15 above); it was thus possible to locate him even though - as the Government mentioned by way of justification - no data-bank was available. It is difficult to reconcile the situation found by the Court with the diligence which the Contracting States must exercise in order to ensure that the rights guaranteed by Article 6 (art. 6) are enjoyed in an effective manner (see, mutatis mutandis, the Artico judgment of 13 May 1980, Series A no. 37, p. 18, para. 37). In conclusion, the material before the Court does not disclose that Mr. Colozza waived exercise of his right to appear and to defend himself or that he was seeking to evade justice. It is therefore not necessary to decide whether a person accused of a criminal offence who does actually abscond thereby forfeits the benefit of the rights in question. 29. According to the Government, the right to take part in person in the hearing does not have the absolute character which is apparently attributed to it by the Commission in its report; it has to be reconciled, through the striking of a "reasonable balance", with the public interest and notably the interests of justice.