rnment finally indicated that the law (namely, the 1964 Code of Civil Procedure then in force) did not provide for a convicted criminal to be transferred to the court examining his civil case. His participation in the civil proceedings before the court of appeal was not mandatory either, that is to say, the court of appeal could proceed with the case in his absence. The convict had the right to receive copies of materials of the case, give written comments, lodge procedural requests, etc. Even if there had been a delay in notifying the applicant of the original hearing (that of 11 July 2001), he had been fully able to enjoy his right provided by the national law in subsequent proceedings.
33. As regards the refusal to provide the applicant with legal aid, the Government maintained that the Russian law then in force did not provide for legal aid in civil cases of that category. As a result, the applicant's requests for legal aid had not been granted. However, it had been open to the applicant to find a lawyer on his own, or to ask one of his relatives or friends to represent him in the civil proceedings.
34. The applicant maintained his initial complaint that the authorities had failed to notify him of the hearing, and that he had thus been unable to present his case, personally or through his representative.
B. The Court's analysis
1. General principles
35. The Court observes that Article 6 of the Convention does not guarantee the right to personal presence before a civil court but rather a more general right to present one's case effectively before the court and to enjoy equality of arms with the opposing side. Article 6 § 1 leaves to the State a free choice of the means to be used in guaranteeing litigants these rights (see Steel and Morris v. the United Kingdom, No. 68416/01, §§ 59 - 60, ECHR 2005-II). As to the requirement of an oral hearing, this is not a mandatory form of the adjudicative process, especially in higher instances where written procedures may be more appropriate. A hearing may not be necessary in the particular circumstances of the case, for example when it raises no questions of fact or law which cannot be adequately resolved on the basis of the case file and the parties' written observations (see, mutatis mutandis, Fredin v. Sweden (No. 2), 23 February 1994, §§ 21 - 22, Series A No. 283-A, and Fischer v. Austria, 26 April 1995, § 44, Series A No. 312). Legal assistance in civil cases is not mandatory either, although, in certain circumstances, Article 6 § 1 may sometimes compel the State to provide for the assistance of a lawyer when such assistance proves indispensable for an effective access to court (see Airey v. Ireland, 9 October 1979, § 26, Series A No. 32, p. 14 - 16,).
36. Thus the questions of personal presence, the form of the proceedings (oral or written), legal representation, etc. should be analysed in the broader context of the "fair trial" guarantee of Article 6. The Court should verify whether the applicant - party to the civil proceedings - had been given a reasonable opportunity to have knowledge of and comment on the observations made or evidence adduced by the other party and to present his case under conditions that did not place him at a substantial disadvantage {vis-a-vis} his opponent (see {Krcmar} and Others v. the Czech Republic, No. 35376/97, § 39, 3 March 2000, and Dombo Beheer B.V. v. the Netherlands, 27 October 1993, § 33, Series A No. 274).
2. Court's case-law specific to Russia
37. The Court has previously found a violation of the right to a "public and fair hearing" in a case where a Russian court, after having refused leave to appear to the imprisoned applicants who had wished to make oral submissions on their defamation claim, failed to consider other legal possibilities for securing their effective participation
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