Posts in "ECHR" category

[Cases] ECHR Chamber Judgment of October 29, 2009, in the case of Chaudet v. France (right to a fair hearing)

Principal facts

The applicant, Patricia Chaudet, is a French national who worked as an air hostess from 1982. Between 1997 and 2001 she suffered five work-related accidents as a result of air turbulence. She was awarded a disability pension in June 2002 (for a degree of disablement of 8%), then given disabled-worker status in April 2003. On 30 April 2003 the civil aviation medical council declared her unfit for the duties of an air hostess (without giving reasons for its decision); then, on 12 May 2004, declared her permanently unfit for such duties. On 25 October 2004 the civil aviation medical board declared that this permanent incapacity was not attributable to the airline, thus depriving the applicant of the right to receive compensation in that respect. After an unsuccessful application for review, Ms. Chaudet challenged that decision before the Conseil d’Etat, considering, in particular, that insufficient reasons had been given for it. The Conseil d’Etat dismissed the appeal; it held, in particular, that sufficient reasons had been given for the disputed decision, in view of the legal requirement to respect medical confidentiality.

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[Cases] ECHR Chamber Judgment in the case of Lombardi Vallauri v. Italy (duty to give reasons)

The European Court of Human Rights (a Chamber of seven judges) notified in writing today its judgment in the case of Lombardi Vallauri v. Italy (application no. 39128/05). The Court held that the Catholic University of Milan, which is a public law entity (“personne juridique de droit public”), should have given reasons for refusing to employ a lecturer who had not been approved by the Ecclesiastical authorities; hence, it found a violation of Articles 6 ยง 1 (right to a fair hearing) and 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

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