Matko v. Slovenia, No. 43393/98, § 84, 2 November 2006; Assenov and Others v. Bulgaria, 28 October 1998, § 102, Reports 1998-VIII; and Labita v. Italy [GC], No. 26772/95, § 131, ECHR 2000-IV).
53. The minimum standards of "effectiveness" defined by the Court's case-law also require that the investigation must be independent, impartial and subject to public scrutiny, and that the competent authorities must act with exemplary diligence and promptness (see Isayeva and Others v. Russia, Nos. 57947/00, 57948/00 and 57949/00, §§ 208 - 13, 24 February 2005, and Menesheva, cited above, § 67).
(b) Application of the above principles in the present case
54. The Court notes that the parties did not dispute the validity of the medical report drawn up on 19 April 2001, immediately following the applicant's arrest and detention between 16 and 18 April 2001, and confirming the presence of various injuries to the applicant's head and back. The Court further observes that the matter was duly brought before the competent authorities at a time when they could reasonably be expected to investigate the circumstances in question. The applicant's allegations, which were detailed and consistent throughout the domestic proceedings and before this Court, were, at least to some extent, corroborated by a medical certificate recording an injury to the head and back. The domestic authorities were therefore under an obligation to conduct an effective investigation satisfying the above requirements of Article 3 of the Convention.
55. In this connection the Court notes that the prosecution authorities, who were made aware of the applicant's ill-treatment, carried out a preliminary investigation which did not result in criminal prosecution. The applicant's ill-treatment complaints were also the subject of examination by the domestic courts at two levels of jurisdiction. In the Court's opinion, the issue is consequently not so much whether there was an investigation, since the parties did not dispute that there was one, but whether it was conducted diligently, whether the authorities were determined to identify and prosecute those responsible and, accordingly, whether the investigation was "effective".
56. The Court reiterates that the applicant was entirely reliant on the prosecutor to gather the evidence necessary to corroborate his complaint. The prosecutor had the legal power to interview the police officers, summon witnesses, visit the scene of the incident, collect forensic evidence and take all other crucial steps for the purpose of establishing the truth of the applicant's account.
57. The Court will therefore assess the thoroughness of the investigation. In this connection the Court notes a number of significant omissions capable of undermining its reliability and effectiveness. Firstly, the Court observes that there was a selective and somewhat inconsistent approach to the assessment of evidence by the investigating authorities. The prosecution authorities did not consider that testimony to be credible, apparently because it reflected a personal opinion and constituted an accusatory tactic by the applicant. However, the investigator did regard the police officers' testimonies as credible, despite the fact that their statements could have constituted defence tactics and have been aimed at damaging the applicant's credibility. In the Court's view, the prosecution investigation applied different standards when assessing the testimonies, as that given by the applicant was deemed to be subjective but not those given by the police officers. The credibility of the latter testimonies should also have been questioned, as the prosecution investigation was supposed to establish whether the officers were liable on the basis of disciplinary or criminal charges (see Ognyanova and Choban v. Bulgaria, No. 46317/99, § 99, 23 February 2006).
58.
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