Administrative Disciplinary Offences from the Point of View of the European Court of Human Rights’ Case-Law

Abstract

The paper analyses administrative disciplinary offences that are distinguished from other administrative offences by their object and subject matter, and involve natural persons in specific legal relations with public institutions. The article also analyses how the Slovak legislation and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) perceive these offences, especially in relation to their classification as “criminal charges” under Article 6 of the Convention. Relevant decisions of the ECtHR (Le Compte, Van Leuven and De Meyere v. Belgium, Ramos Nunes De Carvalho e Sá v. Portugal, Polyakh and others v. Ukraine, Peleki v. Greece, Reczkowicz v. Poland and Grace Gatt v. Malta) are presented, where the ECtHR ruled on the application of Article 6 in the context of disciplinary proceedings and their classification under the civil branch of Article 6. The article focuses on the interpretation of these decisions and their implications for Slovak legal practice. The article concludes with a discussion of the differences between the Slovak and European perspectives on disciplinary offences and their fair assessment. Slovak legal system considers disciplinary offences as matters of administrative (criminal) punishment, while the ECtHR requires that these offences meet Engel's criteria defined for the criminal branch of Article 6 of the Convention in order to be classified as such. However, if a disciplinary offence involves serious sanctions, the ECtHR will apply the civil branch of Article 6 and its safeguards.