BERNARD JUDGMENT 17 DISSENTING OPINION OF JUDGE LŌHMUS In paragraph 37 the Court recalls that “the presumption of innocence enshrined in paragraph 2 of Article 6 is one of the elements of the fair criminal trial that is required by paragraph 1”. I entirely agree with this principle, as expressed in this judgment and in other judgments of the Court. Contrary to the majority of the Court, I have reached the conclusion that there has been an infringement of the applicant’s rights under Article 6 §§ 1 and 2. According to my understanding, the majority based their reasoning on the fact that the psychiatric reports formed only one part of the evidence submitted to the jury and that the applicant’s conviction was based on the evidence obtained during the investigation and discussed at the hearing in the Assize Court (see paragraph 40). I am of the opinion that this reasoning, leading to the finding that there was no breach of Article 6 §§ 1 and 2, is in some respects in contradiction with the principle set forth in paragraph 37. It is not the Court’s task to substitute its own assessment of the facts and the evidence for that of the domestic courts. The Court’s task is to ascertain whether the proceedings in their entirety were fair. The expressions that were used in the reports by the experts went beyond medical or psychiatric terminology. The experts overstepped the limits of their competence by expressing their opinion as to the applicant’s guilt. Both experts were appointed by an investigating judge, that is, by the judicial authority. As no reasons are given in the Assize Court’s judgment it cannot be known to what extent the jurors, in declaring the applicant guilty, took the psychiatric reports into account. Jurors are very sensitive to opinions expressed by qualified experts. By using such expressions in the reports, the experts reinforced the opinion that the applicant was guilty and so created a situation in which the principles of presumption of innocence and fair trial were not observed.