eople who came to support him and left only the relatives and friends of the victims. The Court considers that the applicant's submissions are not supported by the materials of the case, as there is no evidence that all the public had been excluded from the hearing. It follows from the case file that the proceedings before the trial court comprised a public hearing during which the applicant and several witnesses were heard in person. Accordingly, the Court considers that the proceedings before the trial court complied with the requirements of Article 6. It follows that this part of the application is manifestly ill-founded and must be rejected pursuant to Article 35 §§ 3 and 4 of the Convention.
39. As regards the applicant's complaint about his absence from the appeal hearing of 1 July 2002, the Court considers that it raises serious issues of facts and law and requires an examination on the merits. The Court finds that this complaint is not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 of the Convention and that it is not inadmissible on any other grounds. It must therefore be declared admissible.
B. Merits
1. Submissions by the parties
40. The Government considered that the applicant's rights guaranteed by Article 6 §§ 1 and 3 (c) had not been violated. They submitted that under Article 335 of the old CCrP and Article 376 of the new CCrP the applicant had been entitled to take part in the appeal hearing (see "Relevant domestic law and practice" above, §§ 24 and 29). According to the tenor of those provisions, the applicant had to inform the court about his wish to participate in the appeal hearing. It followed from the record of the proceedings that after pronouncement of the judgment, the judge explained to the parties, including the applicant, the procedure and the time-limits for lodging an appeal against the conviction. On 27 June 2002 the applicant, in accordance with the old CCrP, had received a notification that the appeal hearing would take place on 1 July 2002. However, he had not expressed the wish to participate in the appeal hearing either in his grounds of appeal or in a separate motion. The Government pointed out that the old CCrP had not provided for any time-limits for prior notification of the appeal hearing. In accordance with Article 336 of the old CCrP, Ruling of the Constitutional Court of 10 December 1998 and Article 376 of the new CCrP (see "Relevant Domestic law and practice" above, paragraphs 25, 26 and 29), a failure to appear at the hearing by a person who had been duly informed of the hearing did not preclude examination of the criminal case. Therefore, the appeal court had breached neither the domestic law nor the provisions of the Convention.
41. The applicant maintained his complaint. He confirmed that he had received the notification about the appeal hearing on 27 June 2002. However, he had not been informed about his right to take part in the appeal hearing and about the procedure to follow, as he had only been advised of the time-limits for lodging his appeal.
2. The Court's assessment
(a) General principles
42. The Court reiterates that the object and purpose of Article 6 taken as a whole implies that a person "charged with a criminal offence" is entitled to take part in the hearing. Moreover, sub-paragraphs (c), (d) and (e) of paragraph 3 guarantee to "everyone charged with a criminal offence" the right "to defend himself in person", "to examine or have examined witnesses" and "to have the free assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand or speak the language used in court", and it is difficult to see how he could exercise these rights without being present (see Colozza v. Italy, 12 February 1985, § 27, Series A No. 89). Based on that interpretation of Article 6 the Court has held that the duty to guarantee the r
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