[align=left]14. On 10 May 1965, the Applicant was heard by a judge in pursuance of
Article 178 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

15. In a petition of 13 May 1965, requesting his conditional release,
the Applicant referred to a decision given by the Regional Court of
Cologne on 9 June 1964. In this decision the Court, relying on Article
5, paragraph (3), of the Convention, had ordered the release pending
trial of 2 persons who, for almost 6 years, had been detained on remand
on suspicion of having murdered prisoners, or having aided and abetted
their murder, at the concentration camp of Mauthausen. The Court had
held that detention pending trial "must be brought to an end if its
continuance would break the prisoner's spirit, seriously undermine his
will to defend himself and thus cause appreciable harm to his human
dignity."

The Applicant's above petition was refused by the District Court of
Berlin-Tiergarten on 2 June 1965.

16. On 24 June 1965, the investigation was formally closed by the
Central Office of Cologne in accordance with Article 169 a of the Code
of Criminal Procedure.

17. On 23 July 1965, the Court of Appeal of Berlin ordered the
Applicant's continued detention.

18. At his request, the Applicant was finally heard on 12 October 1965
by the Public Prosecutor of the Cologne Central Office under Article
169 b of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

19. The indictment, a document of some 230 pages, was completed by the
Central Office on 1 December and lodged with the Regional Court of
Hagen in Westphalia on 10 December 1965. In the indictment the
Applicant and 2 further accused were faced with several charges of
murder. It was alleged that, between September 1941 and spring 1942,
they had participated in the "death baths" at Gusen concentration camp
where a great number of people had died after having been forced to
remain under ice-cold shower-baths. The prosecution invoked as
evidence, inter alia, the statements of 68 witnesses in Germany and 43
witnesses in other countries, mainly Poland.

20. On 26 January 1966, the Court of Appeal (Oberlandesgericht) of Hamm
(Westphalia) decided that the Applicant's detention should continue.

21. At the Applicant's request, a preliminary judicial investigation
(gerichtliche Voruntersuchung) was ordered by the Third Great Criminal
Chamber of the Regional Court of Hagen on 23 February and opened by the
investigating judge of the Court on 4 March 1966.

22. A new order for the Applicant's continued detention was made by the
Court of Appeal of Hamm on 5 May 1966.

23. On 27 July 1966, the Regional Court of Hagen rejected the
Applicant's request to separate the criminal proceedings against him
from those against his co-accused. It also ordered his transfer from
Berlin to Hagen.

24. On 12 August 1966, the Court of Appeal of Hamm decided that the
Applicant's detention should continue.

25. On 1 September the Court of Appeal dismissed the Applicant's appeal
(Beschwerde) from the Regional Court's decision of 27 July 1966
(mentioned in paragraph 22 above) and, on 7 September, the Applicant
was transferred in a charter plane from Berlin to Hagen.

26. On 14 March 1967, the Federal Constitutional Court
(Bundesverfassungsgericht) dismissed the Applicant's constitutional
appeal (Verfassungsbeschwerde) from the Court of Appeal's decision of
12 August 1966 (mentioned in paragraph 23 above). Noting that the
Applicant had been detained since 5 May 1961, the Federal
Constitutional Court stated that a detention of this length could be
considered as admissible only in very exceptional circumstances. It
must be an extremely complex and difficult investigation of
particularly serious offences; moreover, it must be shown that the
authorities had done all they could in order to complete the
investigation as soon as possible and to obtain a judgement on the
charges against the detained person.

The Court found that these conditions were satisfied in the Applicant's
case. The length of his detention was not out of all proportion to the
gravity of the alleged offences since he was charged with a number of
crimes which were punishable with life imprisonment. The investigation
had been extremely difficult because the offenses concerned were Nazi
crimes committed more than 20 years ago; most of the witnesses were
either unreliable as being suspected persons themselves or living
abroad and therefore difficult to contact. The alleged offences
involved numerous victims and it was necessary to clarify the whole
historical complex (Gesamtgeschehen) in order to make a proper
assessment of the individuals who had taken part in these actions, the
degree of their participation and their guilt. The Court also found
that there had been no avoidable delay in the investigations and it
concluded that the decision of the Court of Appeal that the Applicant
should remain in detention did not violate the Basic Law (Grundgesetz).

27. On 21 March 1967, the Criminal Chamber of the Regional Court of
Hagen, noting that the preliminary judicial investigation (mentioned
in paragraph 21 above) had been concluded, committed the Applicant for
trial. It also ordered his continued detention.

28. The trial of the Applicant and the 2 co-accused opened before the
Regional Court of Hagen on 28 August 1967. It is expected to last until
April 1968.

B. Whereas the arguments of the Parties may be summarised as follows:

I. As to Article 5, paragraph (3), of the Convention (right to trial
within a reasonable time or to release pending trial).

1. The Applicant submitted that, according to the Commission's constant
jurisprudence, the term "reasonable time" in Article 5, paragraph (3),
of the Convention must be determined in the light of the concrete
circumstances of each case. In the Wemhoff case the Commission had in
its report adopted certain criteria for the evaluation of such
circumstances and, in this connection, special consideration should be
given to the actual length of the detention. The nature of the alleged
offence and the penalty to be expected in the event of conviction could
also be taken into account but, when applying this criterion, it was
necessary to observe the presumption of innocence as guaranteed by
Article 6, paragraph (2) of the Convention. Special regard must be had
to the fate of the individual involved. The reasonableness of a period
of detention on remand could not be determined primarily on the basis
of the requirements of the criminal investigation. Detention pending
trial constituted a "special sacrifice" ("Sonderopfer") which an
individual, whether guilty or not, had to make for the maintenance of
an effective administration of justice. The length of such detention
must not exceed a measure which could reasonably be imposed even on an
innocent person.[/align]