GÄFGEN v. GERMANY JUDGMENT
1
In the case of Gäfgen v. Germany,
The European Court of Human Rights, sitting as a Grand Chamber
composed of:
Jean-Paul Costa, President,
Christos Rozakis,
Nicolas Bratza,
Françoise Tulkens,
Josep Casadevall,
Anatoly Kovler,
Ljiljana Mijović,
Renate Jaeger,
Sverre Erik Jebens,
Danutė Jočienė,
Ján Šikuta,
Ineta Ziemele,
George Nicolaou,
Luis López Guerra,
Ledi Bianku,
Ann Power,
Nebojša Vučinić, judges,
and Erik Fribergh, Registrar,
Having deliberated in private on 18 March 2009 and on 24 March 2010,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on the lastmentioned date:
PROCEDURE
1. The case originated in an application (no. 22978/05) against the
Federal Republic of Germany lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
(“the Convention”) by a German national, Mr Magnus Gäfgen (“the
applicant”), on 15 June 2005. The applicant was granted legal aid.
2. The applicant alleged that the treatment to which he had been
subjected during police interrogation concerning the whereabouts of a boy,
J., on 1 October 2002 constituted torture prohibited by Article 3 of the
Convention. He claimed that he remained a victim of this violation. He
further alleged that his right to a fair trial as guaranteed by Article 6 of the
Convention, comprising a right to defend himself effectively and a right not
to incriminate himself, had been violated in that evidence which had been
obtained in violation of Article 3 had been admitted at his criminal trial.
3. The application was allocated to the Third Section and, subsequently,
to the Fifth Section of the Court (Rule 52 § 1 of the Rules of Court). By a