| Guiding principle: |
The Commission had to examine the question whether Article 6, paragrah 3 (d) and Article 14 of the Convention had been violated because a court refused to hear witnesses who wished to speak in Breton, without even checking first whether they were able to speak French. The Commission noted that the decision was based on a provision of the French Code of Criminal Procedure according to which the services of an interpreter should be called upon only if the accused or witness did not have a sufficient command of French, which was not alleged to be the case. It observed that Article 6, paragraph 3 (d), did not guarantee a right of witnesses to speak in a language of their choice, and since the witnesses had not claimed that they were unable to speak French, the Commission also denied a violation of Article 6, paragraph 1, and of Article l4 |