DISSENTING OPINION OF MR. S. TRECHSEL

        (regarding Article 6 para. 2 of the Convention)

     I regret that, in the present case, I cannot agree with the

majority of the Commission.  In my view there has been a violation of

Article 6 paragraph 2 of the Convention.

     It is true that the applicants themselves have not formally been

charged with a criminal offence.  Nevertheless, they in fact had the

position of defendants in the proceedings concerning the tax evasion

allegedly committed by the deceased.  After P.'s death it was the

applicants whom the authorities informed of the opening of criminal tax

proceedings.  I accept that the issue in these proceedings was the

guilt not of the applicants but of P.

     However, at the time the decision to impose a penalty was taken

the person found guilty had died and those directly affected were the

applicants.

     According to the case-law of the Commission and the Court,

Article 6 paragraph 2 can be violated even in the absence of any

conviction by a declaration of an authority that a person is guilty of

an offence.  In my view, on the other hand, there must also be a

violation of that guarantee in a case where a retributive sanction is

imposed upon a person for an offence committed by another person.

     I am not impressed by the Government's argument that the heirs

could have refused the inheritance.  At the time the fine was imposed

they had, according to Section 560 of the Swiss Civil Code, already

acquired title to and possession of whatever the deceased had left.

Rejecting the inheritance would only have eliminated the problem if,

even disregarding the fine, the applicant had left more debts than

assets. They would also have suffered a loss if they had had to reject

the inheritance because after deduction of the fine nothing was left

over.

     In a nutshell:  The present case concerns applicants who were

punished for an offence somebody else had committed.  Such a punishment

is not compatible with Article 6 para. 2 of the Convention and there

has, accordingly, been a violation of that guarantee.

                                                 (Or. English)