The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) held on 1 September 2026 that the Netherlands violated the Convention right to a fair trial (Article 6) in Brunell and McArdle v. the Netherlands. The applicants were acquitted of manslaughter at first instance but later convicted on appeal; the Court found the appeal court had relied on testimony from a witness it did not personally hear, despite obvious doubts about that witness’s credibility. The Grand Chamber/Chamber (as notified in the Court’s published material) concluded that overturning an acquittal in those circumstances undermined the fairness of the proceedings. ([echr.coe.int](https://www.echr.coe.int/w/brunell-and-mcardle-v.-the-netherlands?utm_source=openai))
Why this matters: criminal appeals commonly re‑weigh evidence and reassess credibility. The ECHR’s ruling reinforces a basic procedural limit: where an appellate court’s conviction depends on a single witness whose testimony the court has not assessed directly, fairness requires that the decisive testimony be subject to adversarial testing before the fact‑finder actually making the credibility assessment. Practically, the decision signals that member states’ appellate procedures must preserve opportunities for the defence to challenge testimonial evidence and for courts to evaluate witness demeanour and veracity when those assessments are outcome‑determinative.
Legal background: Article 6 of the European Convention guarantees an accused’s right to a fair hearing by an independent tribunal; Strasbourg jurisprudence has long stressed oral testimony and the right to examine witnesses as core elements of fairness in criminal cases. This ruling clarifies how those guarantees apply when verdicts are changed on appeal and may prompt domestic courts to adjust appeal practice (for example, by ensuring witness re‑examination or ordering fresh hearings) to avoid repeat Strasbourg findings. The judgment may also affect domestic review and compensation procedures where convictions are set aside as incompatible with Convention rights.
Source: European Court of Human Rights press page (European Court of Human Rights).