6
PANYIK v. HUNGARY JUDGMENT
of objective impartiality provides a further important guarantee
(see Pullar v. the United Kingdom, 10 June 1996, § 32, Reports of
Judgments and Decisions 1996-III). In other words, the Court has
recognised the difficulty of establishing a breach of Article 6 on account of
subjective partiality and for this reason has in the vast majority of cases
raising impartiality issues focused on the objective test. However, there is
no watertight division between the two notions since the conduct of a judge
may not only prompt objectively held misgivings as to impartiality from the
point of view of the external observer (objective test) but may also go to the
issue of his or her personal conviction (subjective test).
28. As to the second test, when applied to a body sitting as a bench, it
means determining whether, quite apart from the personal conduct of any of
the members of that body, there are ascertainable facts which may raise
doubts as to its impartiality. In this respect even appearances may be of
some importance (see Castillo Algar v. Spain, 28 October 1998, § 45,
Reports 1998-VIII; and Morel v. France, no. 34130/96, § 42,
ECHR 2000-VI). When it is being decided whether in a given case there is a
legitimate reason to fear that a particular body lacks impartiality, the
standpoint of those claiming that it is not impartial is important but not
decisive. What is decisive is whether the fear can be held to be objectively
justified (see Ferrantelli and Santangelo v. Italy, 7 August 1996, § 58,
Reports 1996-III; and Wettstein v. Switzerland, no. 33958/96, § 44,
ECHR 2000-XII).
b. Application of the above principles to the present case
29. Turning to the particular case, the Court observes that the applicant
complains about the alleged impartiality of the Regional Court, as the panel
judge deciding his action on appeal had, in a previous case of his, declared
himself biased, and two out of three judges deciding about his motion for
impartiality against this judge had earlier withdrawn themselves from the
case on account of their personal prejudice. The Court’s task is therefore to
assess whether the particular circumstances of the case raise objectively
justified doubts as to the neutrality of the Regional Court.
30. Concerning the Government’s argument that the applicant did not
adduce any evidence to substantiate bias of the panel judge Dr V., the Court
observes that indeed his personal prejudice had not been proven, as, apart
from his earlier declaration of being biased in another case, there had been
no particular signs or acts showing prejudice on his side. The Court
therefore acknowledges that the personal impartiality of Dr V. should be
presumed. However, this corresponds only to the subjective test established
by the Court.
31. It remains to be ascertained whether the appearance of impartiality
was observed under the objective test. The Court draws attention to the fact
that the reason for which Dr V. withdrew voluntarily from a previous case