Court also reiterates that the right to silence and the right not to incriminate oneself are generally recognised international standards which lie at the heart of the notion of a fair procedure under Article 6. Their rationale lies, inter alia, in the protection of the accused against improper compulsion by the authorities, thereby contributing to the avoidance of miscarriages of justice and to the fulfilment of the aims of Article 6 (see Bykov v. Russia [GC], No. 4378/02, § 92, ECHR 2009-..., with further references). The right not to incriminate oneself presupposes that the prosecution in a criminal case seek to prove their case against the accused without resort to evidence obtained through methods of coercion or oppression in defiance of the will of the accused (see, inter alia, J.B. v. Switzerland, No. 31827/96, § 64, ECHR 2001-III). In this sense the right is closely linked to the presumption of innocence contained in Article 6 § 2 of the Convention. In examining whether a procedure has extinguished the very essence of the privilege against self-incrimination, the Court must examine the nature and degree of the compulsion, the existence of any relevant safeguards in the procedures and the use to which any material so obtained is put (ibid.).
39. The general requirements of fairness contained in Article 6 apply to all criminal proceedings, irrespective of the type of offence at issue. Public-interest concerns cannot justify measures which extinguish the very essence of an applicant's defence rights, including the privilege against self-incrimination guaranteed by Article 6 of the Convention (see Bykov, cited above, § 93).
40. Lastly, the Court reiterates that a waiver of a right guaranteed by the Convention - in so far as it is permissible - must not run counter to any important public interest, must be established in an unequivocal manner and must be attended by minimum safeguards commensurate to the waiver's importance (see Sejdovic v. Italy [GC], No. 56581/00, § 86, ECHR 2006-...). Moreover, before an accused can be said to have impliedly, through his conduct, waived an important right under Article 6, it must be shown that he could reasonably have foreseen what the consequences of his conduct would be (see Talat {Tunc} v. Turkey, No. 32432/96, § 59, 27 March 2007, and Jones v. the United Kingdom (dec.), No. 30900/02, 9 September 2003).
(b) Application in the present case
41. Having examined all the material submitted by the parties, the Court makes the following findings as to the sequence of events concerning the applicant's self-incriminating statements. As followed from the statement made at the trial by Mr F, there had previously been cases of workers pouring out diesel from their service vehicles, and thus the company's director had asked the competent authorities to carry out checks (see paragraph 17 above). The applicant's car was apparently stopped during one of such checks. It does not transpire from the case file that at any time on 21 February 2001 the applicant was informed of the reason for which his car had been stopped and inspected. Neither was he informed of the nature and cause of any suspicion or accusation against him. After the police inspection of his car, the applicant was asked about the origin of the fuel. He did not tell them about the purchase of the fuel because he felt intimidated and did not have a receipt to prove the purchase. Instead, he stated that he had poured out the fuel from his service vehicle. An inspection record was drawn. This record contained a note indicating that the applicant had poured out the fuel from the company's premises. Shortly thereafter, the applicant was apprised of his right to remain silent and signed a statement to the police confirming that he had poured out thirty litres of fuel from his service vehicle for personal use.
42. The Court reiterates that in criminal matters, Arti
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