Information Note on the Court’s case-law 69

November 2004

Shannon v. the United Kingdom (dec.) - 6563/03

Decision 23.11.2004 [Section IV]

Article 6

Criminal proceedings

Article 6-1

Fair hearing

Self-incrimination: imposition of criminal sanctions for refusal to answer questions by financial investigators: admissible

The applicant, who was charged by the police with false accounting and conspiracy to defraud, w as required to attend before a financial investigator to answer questions on whether any person had benefited from the false accounting. The applicant did not attend the interview because he feared his replies could be used as evidence against him in the t rial, and as he had allegedly not obtained satisfactory guarantees from the investigators to the contrary. The applicant was as a result convicted and fined for the offence of failing without reasonable excuse to comply with the financial investigator’s re quirements to answer questions. His appeal against conviction was initially allowed by the County Court, which found that the applicant had a right not to answer questions that would have tended to incriminate him. However, the Court of Appeal confirmed th e applicant’s conviction on the ground of not having a reasonable excuse for refusing to comply with the investigators’ requirements merely because the information sought could be potentially incriminating.

Admissible under Article 6.

© Council of Europe/European Court of Human Rights This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.

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