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… The 4. Under , entitled ‘Right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial’: ‘Everyone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by the law of the Union are violated has the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid down in this Article. Everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an and tribunal previously established by law. …

… The 5. Under , entitled ‘Right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial’: ‘Everyone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by the law of the Union are violated has the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid down in this Article. Everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an and tribunal previously established by law. …

… The 4. Under , entitled ‘Right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial’: ‘Everyone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by the law of the Union are violated has the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid down in this Article. Everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an and tribunal previously established by law. …

… The 4. 6 of the of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the ’) provides that ‘everyone has the right to liberty and security of person’. 5. Under of the , entitled ‘Right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial’: ‘Everyone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by the law of the Union are violated has the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid down in this . …

… Everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an and tribunal previously established by law. Everyone shall have the possibility of being advised, defended and represented. …’ 6. Article 48 of the Charter, entitled ‘Presumption of innocence and right of defence’, reads as follows: ‘1. Everyone who has been charged shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law. 2. …

… The second paragraph of provides that everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an and tribunal previously established by law. 53 According to the explanations relating to of the of Fundamental Rights, which, under the third subparagraph of Article 6(1) TEU and Article 52(7) of the Charter, must be given due regard in the interpretation of the Charter, that article corresponds to Article 6(1) of the ECHR. 54 As …

… Germany, CE:ECHR:2006:0629DEC005493400, § 79), it also constitutes a limitation on the exercise of the corresponding right enshrined in 7 of the of Fundamental Rights. 52 It should also be recalled that the first paragraph of of the of Fundamental Rights provides that everyone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by the law of the European Union are violated has the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid down in that …

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… Legal context EU law The 3 of the of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’), entitled ‘Right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial’, is worded as follows: ‘Everyone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by the law of the Union are violated has the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid down in this . …

… Everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an and tribunal previously established by law. …

… In that connection, the first paragraph of of the provides that everyone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by EU law are violated has the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid down in that . Under the second paragraph of , everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an and tribunal previously established by law. …

… The third paragraph of of the provides specifically that legal aid is to be made available to those who lack sufficient resources in so far as such aid is necessary to ensure effective access to justice. 32. …

… The relevant provisions of the of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (which had not yet acquired binding force at the material time) provide: – Right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial “Everyone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by the law of the Union are violated has the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid down in this . …

… , entitled ‘Right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial’, provides: ‘Everyone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by the law of the Union are violated has the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid down in this Article. Everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an and tribunal previously established by law. …

… Article 9 TEU provides: ‘In all its activities, the Union shall observe the principle of the equality of its citizens …’ of Fundamental Rights of the European Union 10. 20 of the of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the ’) (7) provides: ‘Everyone is equal before the law.’ 11. …

… The referring court’s duty of 73. Both the Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights have had occasion, in the course of their case-law, to define the concept of an ‘ tribunal’ as established in of the and 6(1) of the ECHR respectively. (37) 74. …

… Indeed, the Court has made the of the judiciary, one aspect of that being , (38) one of the defining criteria of ‘court or tribunal’ within the meaning of Article 267 TFEU. (39) Thus, the impartiality of the judge must be regarded as a condition of recourse to the preliminary reference procedure. 75. A judge is presumed to be impartial, (40) that is to say free of prejudice or bias. (41) 76. …

… First of all, 41 of the , entitled ‘Right to good administration’, confers on every person ‘the right to have his or her affairs handled , fairly and within a reasonable time by the institutions and bodies of the Union’. (15) Secondly, of the , concerning the ‘Right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial’ states that everyone is entitled to ‘a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an and tribunal previously established …

… In addition, the requirement to observe the reasonable period principle currently appears expressly in two of the . 35. …

… (16) The title and wording of 41 of the Charter, however, put an end to such uncertainty. It is the ‘right to good administration’, (17) a right [which] includes inter alia … the right of every person to be heard before any individual measure which would affect him or her adversely is taken, the right of every person to have access to his or her file, [or] the obligation of the administration to give reasons for its decisions’. (18) 38. …