HERCZEGFALVY v. AUSTRIA - 10533/83

The European Court of Human Rights, sitting, in accordance with Article 43 (art. 43) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms ("the Convention") 2  and the relevant provisions of the Rules of Court, as a Chamber composed of the following judges:

and also of Mr M.-A. Eissen , Registrar , and Mr H. Petzold , Deputy Registrar ,

On 9 August 1983 the District Court appointed a new adviser, who has acted as such since then. According to a ruling of the guardianship court of 19 July 1984, his position was equivalent as from 1 July 1984 to that of a curator (Sachwalter) within the meaning of Article 273 (3), sub-paragraph 3, of the Civil Code (see paragraph 54 below).

Following these reports, the public prosecutor’s office amended the indictment on 15 June 1978 and now sought Mr Herczegfalvy’s detention rather than conviction. From that date the detention in issue was based on Article 429 (4) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (see paragraph 44 below). The applicant’s appeal against the amended indictment was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on 30 August 1978.

The Vienna Court of Appeal, to which the applicant had appealed, held on 29 August 1979 that it had no jurisdiction: as Article 429 (4) of the Code of Criminal Procedure was the only provision which could apply, it was for the Review Chamber of the Regional Court to hear the appeal.