In Tsatani v. Greece [3], the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) examined whether disciplinary proceedings against a Greek prosecutor complied with Article 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the right to fair and impartial hearings. The applicant, Tsatani, faced disciplinary actions initiated by the President of the Court of Cassation after she closed a criminal investigation into alleged fraud involving Greek and Cypriot individuals.

Tsatani filed a recusal request, arguing that the President had a conflict of interest and could not be impartial. She also complained about a press release issued by the President concerning her recusal request. The Disciplinary Council dismissed her claims, finding her guilty of serious negligence damaging the judiciary’s prestige and imposed a 60-day salary deprivation.

Before the ECtHR, Tsatani argued that her right to a fair hearing under Article 6(1) had been violated because her case was not heard by an independent and impartial tribunal. She noted that the President, who conducted the preliminary investigation, had herself examined the recusal request and initiated the proceedings.

The Greek government argued that Article 6(1) did not apply, as the case was purely disciplinary and not criminal. The Court agreed in part, finding the proceedings were exclusively disciplinary. However, it held that disciplinary councils are tribunals under the Article’s civil limb because they exercise full jurisdiction over professional responsibility matters. The Court found Tsatani’s concerns about impartiality objectively justified, reasoning that the tribunal failed to address the effect of the President’s press release and thus did not meet the required standard of impartiality.