134.
The impartiality of a judge is considered with regards to the whole
proceedings. Such was the situation in the CASE OF KYPRIANOU V.
CYPRUS
73797/01
|
JUDGMENT
(MERITS
AND
JUST
SATISFACTION) | COURT (GRAND CHAMBER) | 15/12/2005; where
the Court held that:
“The principle that a tribunal shall be presumed to be free of personal
prejudice or partiality is long-established in the case-law of the Court. It
reflects an important element of the rule of law, namely that the verdicts of a
tribunal should be final and binding unless set aside by a superior court on
the basis of irregularity or unfairness. This principle must apply equally to
all forms of tribunal including juries”.
135.
As already indicated in the beginning of this analysis, the mode of trial
of the Applicant was by jury. The applicant’s contention of impartiality was
solely directed at the presiding judge who was only the trier of law. It is worth
noting that the suspicion of the Applicant has not been situated in connection
with the role the presiding judge played in his trial. The fate of the Applicant
at the trial, to a larger extent, depended on the triers of fact and not the trier of
law. The question for this Court to determine is, whether given the role of the
Chief Justice in the previous proceedings leading to the impeachment and the
trial at the Senate, can any legitimate doubt be established in the mind of an
objective observer that the Chief Justice was partial or bias against the
Applicant while presiding over the hearing?
55