“(1) In the determination of his civil rights and obligations or of any criminal charge against him, everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law.... (2) Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law. (3) Everyone charged with a criminal offence has the following minimum rights: (a) to be informed promptly, in a language which he understands and in detail, of the nature and cause of the accusation against him; (b) to have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defence; (c) to defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choosing or, if he has not sufficient means to pay for legal assistance, to be given it free when the interests of justice so require; (d) to examine or have examined witnesses against him and to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on his behalf under the same conditions as witnesses against him; (e) to have the free assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand or speak the language used in court.” (a) to be informed promptly, in a language which he understands and in detail, of the nature and cause of the accusation against him; (b) to have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defence; (c) to defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choosing or, if he has not sufficient means to pay for legal assistance, to be given it free when the interests of justice so require; (d) to examine or have examined witnesses against him and to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on his behalf under the same conditions as witnesses against him; (e) to have the free assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand or speak the language used in court.”
“the appeals concerned assessments for excise duty and were not criminal proceedings for the purposes of the ECHR because they did not meet the three criteria for proceedings to be considered criminal outlined by the European Court of Human Rights (‘ECtHR’) in Engel and Others v. The Netherlands[1976] 1 EHRR 647 at [82] and [83] (see also Ezeh and Connors v. United Kingdom ECHR Cases 39665/98 and 40086/98). Further, as Ms Simor submitted [for HMRC], tax (including excise duty) disputes are outside the scope ofarticle 6 of the ECHR as they are civil rights and obligations (see Ferrazzini v Italy ECHR Case 44759/98,[2001] STC 1314 .”
“Notwithstanding the consideration that a certain gravity attaches to criminal proceedings, which are concerned with the allocation of criminal responsibility and the imposition of a punitive and deterrent sanction, it is self-evident that there are criminal cases which do not carry any significant degree of stigma. There are clearly “criminal charges” of differing weight. What is more, the autonomous interpretation adopted by the Convention institutions of the notion of a “criminal charge” by applying the Engel criteria have underpinned a gradual broadening of the criminal head to cases not strictly belonging to the traditional categories of the criminal law, for example administrative penalties (Öztürk v. Germany), prison disciplinary proceedings (Campbell and Fell v. the United Kingdom, judgment of28 June 1984 , Series A, no. 80), customs law (Salabiaku v. France, judgment of7 October 1988 , Series A no 141-A), competition law (Société Stenuit v. France, judgment of27 February 1992 , Series A no. 232-A) and penalties imposed by a court with jurisdiction in financial matters (Guisset v. France, no. 33933/96, ECHR 2000-IX). Tax surcharges differ from the hard core of criminal law; consequently, the criminal-head guarantees will not necessarily apply with their full stringency (see Bendenoun and Janosevic, §46 and §81 respectively, where it was found compatible with Article 6 §1 for criminal penalties to be imposed, in the first instance, by an administrative or non-judicial body: a contrario, Findlay v. the United Kingdom, cited above).”
“In our judgment, the essential requirement of Article 6 is that in the current proceedings the Appellant has a right to a fair trial, bearing in mind that fiscal penalties do not fall within the hard-core of the criminal law and that the “criminal-head” requirements of Article 6 do not (as the ECtHR found in Jussila) apply with their full stringency. The exact requirements necessary to ensure a fair trial will depend on the nature of the issue to be tried, its seriousness and all the circumstances of the individual case. What is required is a broad assessment of whether the particular charge brought against the Appellant is dealt with in a manner which provides a fair hearing when the proceedings are viewed as a whole.”
“As to whether the assessments themselves should also be seen as 'criminal charges' for the purpose of the art 6 guarantees, the applicants argue that since the penalty procedures rely on the assessments for their validity, it would be wrong not to look at the proceedings as a whole. The court accepts that it is not possible, given the various matters which were being determined by the tribunal, to separate those parts of the proceedings which determined a 'criminal charge' from those parts which did not. It will consider the proceedings to the extent to which they determined a 'criminal charge' against the applicants, although that consideration will necessarily involve the 'pure' tax assessments to a certain extent.”
“(1) The overriding objective of these Rules is to enable the Tribunal to deal with cases fairly and justly. (2) Dealing with a case fairly and justly includes— (a) dealing with the case in ways which are proportionate to the importance of the case, the complexity of the issues, the anticipated costs and the resources of the parties; (b) avoiding unnecessary formality and seeking flexibility in the proceedings; (c) ensuring, so far as practicable, that the parties are able to participate fully in the proceedings; (d) using any special expertise of the Tribunal effectively; and (e) avoiding delay, so far as compatible with proper consideration of the issues. (3) The Tribunal must seek to give effect to the overriding objective when it— (a) exercises any power under these Rules; or (b) interprets any rule or practice direction. (4) Parties must— (a) help the Tribunal to further the overriding objective; and (b) co-operate with the Tribunal generally.” (a) dealing with the case in ways which are proportionate to the importance of the case, the complexity of the issues, the anticipated costs and the resources of the parties; (b) avoiding unnecessary formality and seeking flexibility in the proceedings; (c) ensuring, so far as practicable, that the parties are able to participate fully in the proceedings; (d) using any special expertise of the Tribunal effectively; and (e) avoiding delay, so far as compatible with proper consideration of the issues. (a) exercises any power under these Rules; or (b) interprets any rule or practice direction. (a) help the Tribunal to further the overriding objective; and (b) co-operate with the Tribunal generally.”
“Litigants in person may be stressed and worried: they are operating in an alien environment in what is for them effectively a foreign language. They are trying to grasp concepts of law and procedure, about which they may have no knowledge. They may well be experiencing feelings of fear, ignorance, frustration, anger, bewilderment and disadvantage, especially if appearing against a represented party. The outcome of the case may have a profound effect and long-term consequences upon their life. They may have agonised over whether the case was worth the risk to their health and finances, and therefore feel passionately about their situation.”
“It is the ethos of the Tribunal system and certainly that of the Tax Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal that a taxpayer can bring an appeal to a tax-expert Tribunal without the expense of instructing representatives. The Tribunal hearing a substantive appeal will be expert: it will know the law and will take the legal points at the hearing that an unrepresented appellant may not. Where the Appellant is unrepresented the Tribunal panel will take on a more inquisitorial role and will ask witnesses questions which an unrepresented Appellant may not think to ask.”