[align=left]THE FACTS

Whereas the basic facts which are uncontested by the parties may be
summarised as follows:

The Applicant is a German citizen born in 1902, living in Munich and
having a second residence at St. Jean-Cap-Ferrat in the South of
France. He is a journalist and writer.
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(1) Partial decision of 7th October, 1966, Collection 21, p. 72.
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On the basis of documentation assembled by the applicant, a Nuremberg
weekly magazine published in February and March, 1952, two articles on
the assassination of Ernst vom Rath, an official at the German Embassy
in Paris, which, in 1938, led to the Nazi action against the Jewish
community in Germany known as "Reichskristallnacht". It was stated in
these articles that the assassin, the 17-year old Herschel Grynspan,
had not acted for political motives as an agent of world Jewry, as
alleged by the Nazi authorities, but for purely private reasons as,
according to his own defence, he had homo***ual relations with Ernst
vom Rath.

On 4th July, 1952, Günter vom Rath, a brother of the deceased, brought
charges against the applicant and the publisher of the paper for
defamation of the memory of the deceased (Verunglimpfung des Andenkens
Verstorbener, Article 189 of the German Penal Code). On these charges,
the applicant was indicated by the Public Prosecutor
(Staatsanwaltschaft) on 23rd March, 1954. But, after a preliminary
investigation, the Regional Court (Landgericht) of Munich I on 10th
July, 1957, refused to proceed further at there was not sufficient
evidence of a criminal offence. On an appeal lodged by the Public
Prosecutor, however, the Court of Appeal (Oberlandesgericht), on 27th
January, 1958, ordered trial proceedings to be opened before the
Regional Court of Munich.

In this trial, held from 14th November to 21st December, 1960, the
Applicant was found guilty and sentenced to five months' imprisonment,
the sentence being, however, suspended on probation. The Applicant
appealed from this decision (Revision) and on 3rd October, 1961, the
Federal Court (Bundesgerichtshof) set aside the judgment, inter alia,
on the ground that certain witnesses of the Applicant had not been
called, and referred the case to the Regional Court of Augsburg for a
new trial.

This Court, after having heard a number of witnesses at Augsburg and,
by rogatory commissions in France, Italy and Israel, decided, on 13th
March, 1964, to discontinue the proceedings under the Amnesty Act of
1954. Upon request of the Applicant, however, the proceedings had to
be resumed according to the provisions of the Amnesty Act.

The Court then fixed 9th June, 1964, as the date for the commencement
of the trial in which more than 60 witnesses were to be heard. But when
the Applicant requested before the trial that additional evidence,
mostly from abroad, should be examined, the Court cancelled the trial
and decided, on 8th July, 1964, to dismiss the case on the ground that,
in any event, the Applicant's guilt and the consequences of his act
were insignificant (Article 153, para. 3 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure). The Court argued, inter alia, that the case did not justify
any further time-consuming and expensive investigations and
proceedings. It appears that at that time the files contained already
3,500 pages. The expenses of the proceedings were declared to be at the
charge of the State but the Applicant was not reimbursed for his
lawyer's fees.

The Applicant did not appeal from this decision as no appeal is
provided for by the Code of Criminal Procedure in case of a termination
under Article 153, paragraph (3). He states that he was advised by his
lawyer that not even a Constitutional Appeal (Verfassungsbeschwerde)
lies from such a decision.

Whereas the Applicant originally made a number of complaints as to the
manner in which the above court proceedings had been conducted. The
Applicant referred to Article 6 of the Convention and complained, inter
alia, of the extreme length of the proceedings amounting to a total
period of 12 years. He alleged that he was seriously impeded in
exercising his profession as long as the charge of defamation was
pending against him and that he suffered considerable prejudice. He
further complained that by the termination of the proceedings as being
insignificant he was deprived of his right to a hearing and a
determination of the case.

By its partial decision of 7th October, 1966, the Commission, while
declaring the remainder of the application inadmissible, decided, in
accordance with Rule 45, paragraph 3 (b) of its Rules of Procedure to
give notice to the Federal Government and to invite it to submit its
observations in writing on the question of admissibility insofar as the
application related to the termination of the case by the Regional
Court of Augsburg on 8th July, 1964, and the length of the proceedings.

HISTORY OF THE PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COMMISSION

Whereas the proceedings before the Commission may be summarised as
follows:

On 28th February, 1967, the Federal Government submitted its written
observations and the Applicant replied on 29th March - 6th May, 1967.
Further submissions were made by the Federal Government on 26th May,
1967, and by the Applicant on 9th - 20th and 25th - 29th May, 1967.

On 31st May, 1967, the Commission decided to invite the Federal
Government to submit information as to whether Article 153 of the Code
of Criminal Procedure had ever been challenged before the Federal
Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) as well as more
detailed information on the various stages of the proceedings.

The Federal Government submitted its further written observations on
31st July, 1967, and the Applicant replied on 12th August, 1967. On 4th
October, 1967 the Commission decided to invite the Applicant to
withdraw or amend certain abusive terms made in his submission of 12th
August, 1967, and on 19th October, 1967, he withdrew the abusive terms
concerned.

On 15th December, 1967, the Commission decided to ask the parties to
make oral explanations with regard to the question whether the
Applicant had exhausted the domestic remedies in respect of the
termination of the proceedings. At the same time the Commission decided
to grant the Applicant legal aid in accordance with a request made by
him provided that the general conditions were satisfied. The Commission
also decided to adjourn until the oral hearing its decision as to the
admissibility of the complaint concerning the length of the
proceedings.[/align]