ic proceedings did not result in any final "determination" of the civil rights and obligations, the Court considers that Article 6 is applicable (see Atanasova v. Bulgaria, No. 72001/01, §§ 48 - 52, 2 October 2008; see, however, Neshev v. Bulgaria (dec.), No. 40897/98, 13 March 2003).
26. The Court concludes that this complaint is not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 of the Convention. It further notes that it is not inadmissible on any other grounds. It must therefore be declared admissible.
B. Merits
1. The parties' submissions
27. The applicant maintained his complaint.
28. The Government submitted that the prosecutor's participation in the appeal hearing had been lawful under the RSFSR Code of Civil Procedure. While the prosecutor had not been a party to the proceedings, his conclusions were intended "to express the opinion of the federal authorities" and were not binding on the court. In any event, the prosecutor made no statements on the merits of the case and his participation was essentially passive and confined merely to upholding the lower court's decision in favour of the defendants. He did not take part in the court's deliberations. Lastly, in the Government's view, it was open to the applicant to challenge the prosecutor or the court (see paragraph 14 above).
2. The Court's assessment
(a) General principles
29. The Court reiterates that the principle of equality of arms is one element of the broader concept of fair trial, within the meaning of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention. It requires "a fair balance between the parties"; each party must be given a reasonable opportunity to present his case under conditions that do not place him at a substantial disadvantage {vis-a-vis} his opponent (see Yvon v. France, No. 44962/98, § 31, ECHR 2003-V; {Niderost-Huber} v. Switzerland, 18 February 1997, § 23, Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1997-I; and Kress v. France [GC], No. 39594/98, § 72, ECHR 2001-VI).
30. The Court considers that the fact that a similar point of view is defended before a court by several parties does not necessarily place the opposing party in a position of "substantial disadvantage" when presenting his or her case. It should be ascertained whether, in a given case, in view of the prosecutor's participation in the proceedings, the "fair balance" that ought to prevail between the parties was respected.
31. The Court reiterates that since a prosecutor or comparable officer, in undertaking the status of a party to proceedings, becomes in effect the ally or opponent of one of the parties, his participation is capable of creating a feeling of inequality in respect of one of those parties (see Kress, cited above, § 81, and F.W. v. France, No. 61517/00, § 27, 31 March 2005). In this context, the Court reiterates that while the independence and impartiality of the prosecutor or similar officer may not be open to criticism, the public's increased sensitivity to the fair administration of justice justifies the growing importance attached to appearances (see Borgers v. Belgium, 30 October 1991, § 24, Series A No. 214-B).
32. Indeed, the Court has previously considered that appearances may be of a certain importance in court proceedings, for instance for assessing compliance with the requirement of objective impartiality, or for the sake of preserving the confidence which the courts in a democratic society must inspire in the public (see Sara Lind {Eggertsdottir} v. Iceland, No. 31930/04, § 42, ECHR 2007-VIII). The Court noted in that context that in making such an assessment the focus should be on the legitimacy of the reason to fear that a particular judge lacks impartiality and on whether this fear could be held to be objectively justified (ibid). In the context of the principle of e
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