BERNARD JUDGMENT OF 23 APRIL 1998 10 27. The applicant’s counsel asked the Court to hold that there had been a breach of Article 6 § 1 and to award his client just satisfaction. AS TO THE LAW I. THE GOVERNMENT’S PRELIMINARY OBJECTION 28. The Government pleaded, as they had done before the Commission, that the applicant had failed to exhaust domestic remedies, in that he had neglected to ask the investigating judge to order an independent expert report after the second expert filed his report. The appeal of 25 September 1989, mentioned in the Commission’s report, against the investigating judge’s refusal of his request for a third expert opinion concerned a decision taken by a different investigating judge in the course of proceedings against the applicant for attempted escape with violence. According to the Government the appointment of a third psychiatric expert would incontestably have provided a remedy for the complaint relating to Article 6 § 1 of the Convention. 29. Like the Delegate of the Commission, the Court observes in the first place that the Government’s submission refers to the expert reports filed during the investigation conducted by the Nevers investigating judge, whereas Mr Bernard challenged the comments made by the experts Guggiari and Dumoulin at his trial on 9 June 1992 in the Rhône Assize Court. Secondly – and the Commission rightly recognised this in its decision on the admissibility of the application – the applicant raised the complaint in question before the Assize Court, by means of an interlocutory application, and later by appealing to the Court of Cassation. Domestic remedies were therefore exhausted. 30. In any event, the Nevers investigating judge was at the relevant time conducting two investigations concerning the applicant, one of which was for armed robbery and the other for attempted escape. If the appeal of 25 September 1989 (see paragraph 14 above) concerned the psychiatric report filed by Dr Dumoulin in the context of the second investigation – and Mr Bernard admitted as much – it can reasonably be presumed that any further request for an independent opinion made after Dr Dumoulin had filed his report on 24 June 1989 (see paragraph 13 above) would have been bound to fail.