Justice Must Be Seen To Be Done: Asserting The Principle Of Objective Impartiality

In a decision handed down on June 22, 2022, the Cour de Cassation (French Supreme Court) overturned a judgment of the Rouen Investigation Chamber and held that an investigating judge who has indicted an individual who subsequently files an application for release from pre-trial detention may not act as liberty and custody judge in this same case.

"As a right guaranteed to individuals by Article 6 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the impartiality of the judge is an absolute duty, intended to make effective one of the founding principles of the Republic: the equality of citizens before the law"¹. The impartiality of the judge is, therefore, an essential element of our democratic society in that it gives meaning to the principle of equality of citizens, a key principle of our democratic State.