the applicant was subjected to treatment contrary to Article 3, as alleged. In this respect it particularly emphasises that its inability to reach any conclusions as to whether there has been treatment prohibited by Article 3 of the Convention derives in a considerable part from the failure of the domestic authorities to react effectively to the applicant's complaints at the relevant time (compare Gharibashvili v. Georgia, No. 11830/03, § 57, 29 July 2008, with further references, and see Khashiyev and Akayeva v. Russia, Nos. 57942/00 and 57945/00, § 178, 24 February 2005, with further references).
126. Consequently, the Court cannot establish a substantive violation of Article 3 of the Convention in respect of the applicant's alleged ill-treatment while in police custody.
II. Alleged violations of Article 6 of the Convention
127. The applicant complained under Article 6 §§ 1, 2 and 3 of the Convention that he had been convicted on the basis of his confession statement given under duress and in the absence of legal counsel, and that the courts had not elucidated all the relevant facts. The Court will examine this complaint under Article 6 §§ 1 and 3 (c), which, in so far as relevant, provides:
"1. In the determination of... any criminal charge against him, everyone is entitled to a fair... hearing... by [a]... tribunal...
...
3. Everyone charged with a criminal offence has the following minimum rights:
...
(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..."
A. Submissions by the parties
128. The Government submitted that the confession statement had been hand-written by the applicant on 9 September 2000. Under the Russian rules on criminal procedure, this was not a procedural document that should or could have been compiled in the presence of a lawyer. In contrast to the official record of an interrogation, a confession statement was a manifestation of the defendant's good will. The statement contained the applicant's hand-written and countersigned admission that he was advised about his right not to incriminate himself, guaranteed by Article 51 of the Russian Constitution. Referring to their submissions under Article 3 above, the Government claimed that the confession statement had not been given as a consequence of ill-treatment by police officers.
129. The applicant argued that the admission in court of evidence obtained by ill-treatment amounted to a breach of the right to a fair hearing. He claimed that during the investigation of a case, a confession by an accused was to be given in the presence of his lawyer or, in the absence of that, satisfactory procedures were to be available at the trial to check that it had not been given under duress. The applicant stressed that the Government had admitted that his confession had been given in the absence of a lawyer. He drew the Court's attention to the fact that his lawyer had been denied access to him on 8 September 2000, the very day of the alleged ill-treatment. At the same time, the Government did not refer to any legal provision prohibiting a lawyer's presence at the time of signing a confession statement. Nor did the Government specify any good cause for restriction on his right to benefit from the assistance of his lawyer. The applicant further submitted that no satisfactory procedures had been available at the trial to check that his confession had not been given under duress. The trial and appeal courts had grounded their findings on the medical report of 14 - 18 September 2000 and the prosecutor's decision of 24 September 2000, but they had had no evidence of his involvement in the crime other than his confession.
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