You will find the
original writ here
SUMMONS
BEFORE THE
TRIBUNAL
D’ARRONDISSEMENT,
BETWEEN:
1. Ms. Katalin Baranyi (PhD Scholar)
2. Mr. Herman J Berge (LLB)
Plaintiffs
- and -
Commission de Surveillance du Secteur
Financier (CSSF)
Director General, Mr. Jean Guill,
on behalf of CSSF
Defendant
A. INTRODUCTORY
and STATEMENT OF FACTS
1. Danske Bank International S.A. Luxembourg
(the bank) has - during the period from 1995 through 2010 committed fraud
against numerous international clients / investors, among them northern
European pensioners owning unencumbered properties in
2. This particular case against Commission de
surveillance du secteur financier (CSSF), and thus against the Luxembourg state
/ Government, arises out of the systemized deceitful and fraudulent financial
activity which Danske Bank International S.A. has carried out during a period
of at least 15 years, under the simulated supervision of CSSF. As a result of
the bank's deceitful and fraudulent activity and CSSF’s misconduct, we, the
Plaintiffs, have suffered substantial losses. On
3. Backdrop
of the case: On
4. The Riis-family negotiated with Fokus
Bank[6]
and agreed that the settlement amount was to be deposited in this bank with the
intent to transfer it to Danske Bank International S.A. (Luxembourg) as soon as
possible in order to protect the funds against the Norwegian Government which
for decades had been instructing judges[7]
and by every other means available had been obstructing justice in order to
take down the family and its partners / assistants.
5. Late in June 2003 Mr. Berge was partly
rewarded for the settlement between the Government and the Riis-family, with
some NOK 4 million, this in accordance with contracts between Berge and “Einar
and Amelia Riis”.
6. In this regard Berge asked the
representatives of Fokus Bank in
7. There was never any question or doubt
that this account was anything else than a savings account. Thus no one in the
bank even attempted to specify what kind of account this was, consequently we
didn’t think of asking further questions either.
Later on
we have learned that our agreements with the bank is governed by the Norwegian Law on Financial Agreements and
Financial Service (Finansavtaleloven 1999), and that
the bank pursuant to §15 of this law was obliged to inform us (in advance) of
the different accounts available. Failing to give this information is a
violation of §91, first section, of the said Act.
8. On
9. The same day Danske Bank International
S.A. called us and wanted to discuss placement of the deposit. We were not
interested in taking any risk, and as the bank’s representative suggested a
long term investment in Norwegian and Danish bonds, we agreed upon his advice.
These were long term bonds (2007 to 2009), nevertheless it didn’t take more
than a few months before the bank suggested to sell these bonds and instead
investing in something else. The illegal churning had started.
10. At this point we had though no idea that
the bank had deceived us to deposit our funds in a “safe custody account” and
not in what we thought was a savings account. This is obviously an infringement
of the Finansavtaleloven §15, making this action a criminal offence pursuant to
Finansavtaleloven §91, stipulating some three months in jail for such an
offence.
11. Further developments in our relationship
with the bank – deposits, Danske Bank International S.A.’s “management” of our
savings account, and how the bank defrauded us of + €500.000 – is drawn up in
our criminal complaints I to XXI submitted to the Procureur d’Etat (Public
Prosecutor)[10]
and attached to this writ as Exhibit # 1 – 21.
Here is a short list of the bank’s criminal activity referred to in the
complaints documenting that the bank has:
Committed numerous violations on the
Secrecy Act; Committed embezzlement and exploited our savings in illegal
FX-trade; Wilfully misled us in regards to contracts, investments,
transactions, and bank statements, and in this regard wilfully violated EU-law
as well as Norwegian law on financial activity, thus committing fraud;
Committed perjury; Led CSSF to commit perjury; Committed extortion; Led third
party (law firm of Bonn Scmitt Steichen) to commit extortion; Unlawfully
fabricating a default situation; Concealed documents, voice recordings and
other information in an attempt to avoid investigation and legal sanctions
against the bank and its staff, hence committing fraudulent concealment; Leaked
protected personal information (confided to the bank) to third parties (or
being accessory to such act); Provided unauthorized and thus illegal financial
service for more than 15 years in other EEA-countries; Violated the MIFID
regulations and in this regard executed transactions in violation of the MIFID
regulations; Committed churning; deceived potential investors to sign unlawful
contracts and agreements. This list does not intend to be exhaustive in regards
to the crimes committed against us.
12. Simultaneously with the filing of the
criminal complaints, we have petitioned CSSF to intervene. We have also
continuously informed CSSF of the development in the case after it erupted late
2008, which – as the Court will observe – has led to nowhere.
13. Neither the public prosecutor nor CSSF has
attempted to help us. On the contrary these two public institutions have done
their outmost in protecting what we have learned to know is regarded as gross
criminal activity. These allegations have been documented in our criminal
complaints.
14. Facts
of the case: On
There is no crisis (for you). Listen now; there is no
crisis, just so you know it![11] [12]
15. Five days later, on
16. We immediately responded to the bank’s
letter by our letters of October 20 and 24 2008.
17. The bank didn’t respond to our requests,
thus we contacted CSSF on
Please find enclosed Exhibit 22: 271008
Letter to CSSF.
18. CSSF responded with their letter of
Please find enclosed Exhibit 23: 291008
Letter from CSSF.
19. On
Please find enclosed Exhibit 24: 111108 Letter to CSSF Power of Attorney.
20. CSSF intervened with its letter of
Please
find enclosed Exhibit 25: 131108 CSSF
letter to Danske Bank Copy to us.
21. Shortly after, on
22. During the Christmas break we learned that
Danske Bank AS and its
Please
find enclosed Exhibit 26: 070109
Letter to CSSF – Notice of organized crime - Madoff.
23. Two days later the bank responded to our
previous letters from November 2008. In its response the bank made false and
fraudulent statements on important issues of the case.
Please
find enclosed Exhibit 27: 090109
Letter from the bank to CSSF – Bank officers provided CSSF with false statements.
24. These fraudulent statements were accounted
for in our three letters to CSSF of
Please
find enclosed Exhibit 28 -
30: 220109 Letter I II and III to CSSF – refuting the bank’s explanation.
25. As an obvious consequence to the bank’s
fraudulent statements and our reaction to this, CSSF withdrew from the case the
same day.
Please
find enclosed Exhibit 31: 220109 Letter
from CSSF – Announcing its withdrawal from the case due to our criminal
complaint.
26. Subsequently we had all reasons to continue
investigating the matter. In this regard we revealed that the bank had mislead
us to sign a house loan in September/October 2006 (for the purpose of buying
our house), of which in 2008 turned out to be an investment-scheme identical to
the one applied in the fraud against northern European pensioners owning
unencumbered properties in Spain, cited as a Multipurpose Loan Agreement
(MPLA). In this regard we petitioned CSSF, in our letter of
Please
find enclosed Exhibit 32: 290109
Letter to CSSF - Requesting legal opinion regarding MPLA.
27. At that point we also understood that
something was wrong with the bank’s use of the term: “account manager”, “wealth
manager”, as well as the assignment of them (to us). Consequently we petitioned
CSSF, in our second letter of
Please
find enclosed Exhibit 33: 290109 Letter
to CSSF – Requesting response to numerous essential questions.
28. During our investigation we found that the
bank had violated the MIFID Directive,[13]
and in this regard we petitioned CSSF, in our letter of
Please
find enclosed Exhibit 34: 130209
Letter to CSSF – Requesting legal opinion regarding violations of MIFID.
29. At this point we got a growing suspicion
that CSSF was aware of the bank’s unlawful financial activity and its rotten
funds, that the bank was closely involved / affiliated with the Madoff-fraud,
that CSSF was now protecting the bank and its criminal activity, and that we
hence were exposed to foul play. In this regard we petitioned CSSF to grant us
access to all relevant CSSF-logs, -journals and -records that could verify or
disapprove our suspicion.
Please
find enclosed Exhibit 35: 200209
Letter to CSSF – Requesting access to log/journal/record displaying
correspondence between CSSF and the bank.
30. Further investigation into the matter
brought us information about the bank’s fraudulent activity in
Please find enclosed Exhibit 36: 230209 Letter to CSSF –
Notifying about the Spain-fraud, requesting relevant information.
31. CSSF did not respond to any of our petitions
listed above.
32. On
Please
find enclosed Exhibit 37: 120309
Letter from CSSF – Reopens the case – admit secret meeting with the bank –
Perjury – Closes the case.
33. By this CSSF had arranged secret meetings
with the bank, kept the meetings concealed and hence deprived us of our right
to contradict the bank's arguments/claims. Furthermore it became clear that
CSSF had committed perjury during an investigation in an attempt to cover up
the bank’s criminal activity. CSSF's conclusion rests solely on the bank's
allegations, and by this conduct CSSF had disqualified itself from further
management of this matter. As a consequence we – in our letter to CSSF of March
17 2009 – invoked a conflict of interest and petitioned CSSF to hand over the
matter to an independent ad hoc substitute supervisory and surveillance
authority, and to grant us access to the complete file.
Please
find enclosed Exhibit 38: 170309
Letter to CSSF – Complaints against secret hearing and administration –
Invoking Conflict of interest – Petition access to document file.
34. CSSF did not respond to this petition.
35. In November 2009 a lawyer contacted us on behalf
of the bank, claiming that we were in default and that we owed the bank some
€553.000. The allegations were unfounded but nevertheless the bank started an
unlawful sell-out of our securities. Hence we filed new criminal complaints
against the bank and its staff, and as usual; we informed CSSF by dispatching
copies of the criminal complaints.
36. On December 10 2009 we filed a criminal
complaint against CSSF for having committed perjury (in their letter of March
12 2009). In this criminal complaint we provided conclusive evidence that the bank had initiated all
“investments”, hence proving fraudulent statements and perjury. cf. Exhibit 8 above.
37. January 26 2010 we approached the Minister
of Finance and the Minister of Justice and petitioned these two ministers to
instigate investigations against the bank, CSSF and the public prosecutor, as
all the standard democratic functions and institutions[15]
at that point had failed / ceased to work.
Please find enclosed Exhibit 39: 260110
Letter to the Minister of Justice
38. The Minister of justice responded two days
later, stating that it was not within his competence to act.
Please find enclosed Exhibit 40: 280110
Letter from Minister of Justice
39. The minister of Finance, Prime Minister
Jean-Claude Juncker, did not respond to our petition.
40. During the period from November 2009
through April 2010 we continued to file criminal complaints against the bank as
a reaction to its continuous criminal activity. On May 3 2010 CSSF approached
us proposing a meeting, hence the case was reopened again.
Please
find enclosed Exhibit 41: 030510
Letter from CSSF - CSSF suggests a meeting.
41. The meeting was held June 10 2010. During
the meeting we got the impression that CSSF and the bank were in continuous
contact with each other in regards to this particular matter, obviously without
involving us. In the meantime, on May 21 2010, a secret hearing was held in the
Tribunal d’Arrondissement. The bank had filed a lawsuit asking the court to
order us to pay the outstanding amount on the aforementioned fraud-scheme. The
court passed its default decision on that day, ordering us to pay some €
453.000. to the bank. We were obviously not invited to contradict the banks
perjuries or comment on the bank’s fraudulent concealment in this litigation;
we weren’t even informed about the existence of this court hearing. The court
kept this decision secret for 6 months. Hence, when the meeting was held with
CSSF, we were not aware of this court-crime.
42. During the said meeting CSSF asked us to
further elaborate on the issue and provide the institution with more documents,
so on June 25 2010 we provided CSSF with our comments on some of the more
important issues and questions which were debated during the meeting.
Please
find enclosed Exhibit 42: 250610
letter to CSSF - Follow-up meeting of 100610 – reminder of unanswered questions
cf. section D.
43. On July 15 2010 we provided CSSF with even
more essential information and comments, and as CSSF had been silent since June
10 2010, we asked the institution to respond within July 19 2010.
Please
find enclosed Exhibit 43: 150710
Letter to CSSF - Follow-up meeting of 100610.
44. CSSF responded to our petition on July 19
2010, declaring that the case had been reopened for the third time, this due to
new information (make note that this information was not new as the bank had been sitting on these documents the whole
time when in secret communicating with CSSF). CSSF also asked whether they
could provide the bank with all documents we had dispatched to CSSF, this in
order to get the bank’s comments.
Please
find enclosed Exhibit 44: 160710 Fax
from CSSF – Declares that the case has been reopened again.
45. On July 20 2010 we informed CSSF that we
didn’t mind them sending these documents to the bank. Furthermore we asked to
be kept posted.
Please
find enclosed Exhibit 45: 200710 Letter
to CSSF – Affirms that CSSF can contact the bank.
46. At this point – as a direct consequence of
the bank’s criminal activity – our financial status was critical. In this
regard we contacted CSSF and asked for assistance. Furthermore, as a follow-up
to the third reopening of the case, we informed CSSF about the obvious: That
these new elements which CSSF now claimed was the reason for their reopening,
were nothing more than known information which the bank had been in possession
of since before their first contact with CSSF. Consequently Danske Bank had
been withholding / concealing important documents and information relevant to
this case, information which should have been presented to CSSF in the bank's
first letter of January 9 2009 or at the latest on the meeting between the bank
and CSSF in March 2009. The bank had thus committed Fraudulent Concealment as
well as Perjury. On the other hand CSSF was obviously obliged to obtain these
“new documents” at the latest in their first or second correspondence with the
bank, but CSSF refrained.
Please
find enclosed Exhibit 46: 300710
Letter to CSSF – Request for assistance
47. CSSF never answered this letter.
48. In their letter of August 13 2010 CSSF asked
us to send more documents, and comment further on previously dispatched
documents. CSSF showed no interest in the compromising and incriminating voice
recordings of which we had provided CSSF with transcripts of. On the contrary
CSSF insinuated that we had tampered with the transcripts, hence confirming its
mission; to protect financial crimes.
Please
find enclosed Exhibit 47: 130810
Letter from CSSF – Requests more documents and provides us with questions
already answered.
49. It became quite obvious to us that CSSF did
not intend to do anything with the case, but to thwart our attempt to have the
case investigated, wait this out and thus obstruct our rights. A few days later
we were literally bombarded with unfounded claims, lawsuits and court orders, a
bombardment which has continued up to present. CSSF was obviously aware of
these planned actions against us, hoping that we would become too occupied with
these attacks to pursue the investigation of the bank.
50. On September 8 2010 we informed CSSF that
we – based on the evidence at that point – considered CSSF as a protector of
the bank and thus a protector of financial crimes. Furthermore we described;
the bank’s fabricated default in 2008; how the bank – for the purpose of
defrauding in court – had concealed the first two years of our relationship
with the bank thus concealing essential documents proving the outset of the
fraud against us; how CSSF continues to accept that the bank still is carrying
out its unauthorised financial service in Norway (hence just another proof of
protection of financial crimes), and the deceitful conduct of the bank.
Furthermore we responded to and refuted CSSF’s unfounded allegations that we
were fabricating transcripts of voice recordings between us and the bank.
Finally we reminded CSSF of our numerous petitions which had been left
unattended for 1 ½ years. As a final statement to the Luxembourg authorities'
misconduct, we could only conclude that we were living in a financial,
supervisory, investigative and prosecutorial anarchy.
Please
find enclosed Exhibit 48: 080910
Letter to CSSF – Comments to letter of 130810 - reminder unanswered questions –
see our letter of 250610.
51. Two months later a bailiff sent us the
secret decision of May 21 2010 ordering us to pay the bank. Here are a few
facts about the procedural aspects of this decision: This default decision had
been kept secret from us for 6 months; the main hearing had been kept secret
from us; even the plain existence of the main hearing had been kept secret from
us, which in short means that the court deliberately had obstructed our right
to contradict the bank and defend ourselves. Hence we could safely conclude
that even the courts were part of this crime-protective system in Luxembourg.
52. Consequently we approached CSSF with our
letter of December 13 2010 and asked whether CSSF were aware of this secret
decision at the time of the meeting on June 10 2010.
Please
find enclosed Exhibit 49: 131210
Letter to CSSF – Asking CSSF whether they were informed about the secret
decision.
53. CSSF responded a week later, with their
letter of December 20 2010, declaring that they did not know about this secret
decision.
Please
find enclosed Exhibit 50: 201210
Letter from CSSF – Denies any knowledge of secret decision.
54. There is no information available
indicating whether CSSF has closed the case against Danske Bank International
S.A. or not.
B. STATEMENT OF CLAIM
55. CSSF was – at the latest in February 2009 –
duly informed about the bank’s criminal activity, through our numerous letters,
copies of criminal complaints, transcripts of voice recordings and other
information. CSSF nevertheless refused to act upon this compromising and
incriminating information. Instead of acting duly upon our reports and
complaints, CSSF carried out secret meetings with the bank, planned how to stop
our investigative progress and the complaint at large, concealed facts and
obstructed a mandatory investigation. Furthermore CSSF deliberately chose to
forgo information from us which could have stopped the unauthorized financial
activity, broken the chain of frauds and thus minimized our loss in particular
and damages in general. By not seizing documents and voice recordings at the
bank's premises in 2008, or at the latest in February 2009, CSSF deliberately
chose to forgo information which could have stopped the continuation of
unauthorized financial activity, broken the chain of frauds and thus minimized
our loss in particular and damages in general. CSSF has consequently
deliberately and unlawfully obstructed an investigation and blocked us from
uncovering the truth, hence inflicting huge economic loss on us.
56. CSSF and the Government were at the latest
in January 2010 duly informed that the bank in question provided its clients in
Norway with illegal agreements.[16]
These agreements are illegal for at least two reasons: 1) The bank is not
authorised to provide portfolio service to Norwegian clients in Norway, and 2) Pursuant to §8 of the Norwegian
Regulation F07.07.1994 nr 717 all agreements between a foreign financial
institution and a Norwegian investor / client is subject to Norwegian law. This
provision is to be included in any
agreement. Danske bank International S.A. is nevertheless consistently
misleading Norwegian clients to forfeit their rights protected by mandatory
regulations on financial agreements and accept the bank’s unlawful provisions
which falsely and deceitfully states that the agreement is governed by
Luxembourg law. The consequence of this is that CSSF knew at this point that
the agreements provided by the bank, in general, were illegal and that the
legal as well as economic consequences of such a business could be devastating
not only to the bank but also to CSSF and the Luxembourg Government.
57. CSSF
has deliberately failed to react upon the bank’s fraudulent cross-border
activity. In addition CSSF accepts – as documented above – that Danske Bank
International S.A. still carries out unauthorized financial service in Norway.
This demonstrates beyond any doubt that CSSF – through secret and unlawful
procedures unknown to the public – protects the bank and that CSSF has no
intention of carrying out any supervisory activity for the purpose of
protecting the investors, ensuring that international agreements and European
Directives in the fields under its responsibility are implemented and that
national and international law are complied with and thus safeguarding the
national / international economy.
58. CSSF’s
misconduct is hence regarded at best as gross negligence. We will though argue
and prove that CSSF is guilty of wilful misconduct motivated by the Governments
interest in protecting the financial business against any probe / investigation
/ legal claims / litigation or its like. One direct product of this misconduct
is that the Court of First Instance on May 21 2010 held a secret hearing and
passed a secret decision ordering us to pay the bank in question close to ½
million Euro.[17] This would never had happened if CSSF had
conducted its supervisory and surveillance assignment in accordance with law.
C. Liability
– Compensatory damages
59. It goes without saying that the numerous
actions the authorities has launched against us the last few years – accepting
international illegal attacks against us and in this regard depriving us of our
right to contradict allegations, depriving us of our right to protection,
depriving us of our right to defend ourselves against crimes, depriving us of
our right to a fair hearing, holding secret hearings, passing secret decisions
etc, all this as a consequence of CSSF’s misconduct – which stands as blatant
violations of the Charter of Fundamental Rights Art. 47 and ECHR Art. 6, comes
very costly. The mere fact that it is nevertheless necessary, before a court of
law, to point out these actions as violations of the Charter and the ECHR, is
in itself a proof of the seriously underdeveloped legal / judicial system in
Luxembourg.
60. If a public officer deliberately does an
act which he knows is unlawful and will cause economic loss to a party to – let’s
say; a court case, there is no reason in principle why this party should
identify a legal right which is being infringed or a particular duty owed to
him/her, beyond the right not to be damaged or injured by a deliberate abuse of
power by a public officer.
61. As a regulator CSSF knows the law, hence
CSSF knew that the described actions are unlawful and would be regarded as
crime if committed, and that their actions most likely would cause substantial
economic loss to the Plaintiffs. The said regulator and its staff calculated
the risk and potential consequences of being caught, and decided nevertheless
to carry out the crime. CSSF has consequently demonstrated a serious contempt
for the laws of which the regulator is set to serve and obey, indicating a
totally corrupt and demoralized regulator. Liability has thus been determined
for CSSF and consequently for the state of Luxembourg.
62. The Minister of Justice, François Biltgen, as well as the Prime Minister,
Jean-Claude Juncker, was at the latest by our letter of January 26 2010
notified of how the most powerful institutions in Luxembourg are protecting and
nurturing the financial industry’s criminal activity. The financial crimes were
duly documented with conclusive evidence as were the institutions’ protection
of these crimes. Biltgen and Juncker calculated the risk of not paying any
attention to these crimes, and decided – after calculating the probability of
incurring economic loss to the Plaintiffs – to let the institutions carry out
their protection of financial crimes, hence clearing the way for these crimes
to thrive. The Minister of Justice as well as the Prime Minister have thus
demonstrated their total indifference to law and order in their country as well
as a naked contempt to our rights of which are protected by law. If Biltgen and
Juncker had acted and reacted against this disclosed protective system, the
chances of being defrauded by the bank would be minimized, and the institutions
mentioned above would have protected our rights against these perpetrators and
their crimes. Liability has thus been determined for Biltgen, his superior;
Jean-Claude Juncker and the state of Luxembourg.
63. The principal amount that is to be
compensated correlates with the amount that we, by the secret default decision
of May 21 2010, were ordered to pay to the Danske Bank International S.A. i.e. € 453.200. of which at present has increased to € 470.000. Furthermore due to the
Defendants misconduct we have been forced to protect our interest and
investigate the matter. This has been a full time job for Mr. Berge for 28
months, which we claim to be reimbursed. Mr. Berge claims to be reimbursed: € 300,- an hour, 9 hours a day, 5
days a week for 28 months (5.040 hours) = € 1. 512.000,-.
C. Pain-and-suffering
damages
64. These actions which we have been exposed to
have caused us pain and suffering. As argued above, the said actions have been
committed with the intent to defraud and harm, which was successful achieved.
We have been fighting the bank in question, Luxembourg law-enforcement, the
courts and the CSSF for more than two years. It goes without saying that this
struggle has come costly. The amount that should redress some of our pain and
suffering is assessed at € 10 million.
D. Recovery of lost opportunities –
opportunity cost
65. Our total savings of approximately € 1
million was by deceit channelled into the bank for the sole purpose of
defrauding us of that entire amount. This amount has in fact been seized by the
bank since it was deposited, and at the latest since October 16 2006 when the
bank deceived us to take up a house loan (for the purpose of buying a house in
Luxembourg), of which later on turned out not to be a house loan but rather the
bank’s fraudulent investment-scheme applied on the aforementioned pensioners
defrauded in Spain. Wealth Manager Anne Kaupang Leighton’s fraudulent
declaration to us in the midst of the crisis is quite telling:
- There is no crisis (for you).
Listen now; there is no crisis, just so you know it!
66. cf. lunch meeting with the bank on
September 29 2008 (taped and transcribed). The crisis had already struck us and
the total amount was seized, but for deceitful and fraudulent reasons Leighton
concealed this fact by her declaration. Our opportunity cost is estimated to € 10 million.
E. Punitive
damages (exemplary damages)
67. The Defendant knows the law of which the
assignment (supervision and surveillance) they are carrying out is regulated
by. The Defendant has nevertheless calculated the risk of violating the law and
decided to proceed with protecting the bank and thus the defraud of the bank’s
clients.
68. A substantial punitive damages verdict is
necessary to punish and deter CSSF from acting this way in the future.
69. If the Court finds from the evidence that
the Defendant are guilty of wanton, wilful, malicious or reckless conduct that
shows an indifference to the rights of the Plaintiffs, then we ask the Court to
make an award of punitive (exemplary) damages in this case.
70. In order for the conduct of the Defendant
to constitute wilfulness or wantonness, their acts must be done under
circumstances which show that they were aware from their knowledge of existing
conditions that it was probable that injury/damage would result from their acts
and omissions, and nevertheless proceeded with reckless indifference as to the
consequences and without care for the rights of the Plaintiffs.
71. The Court
must find that the harm to the Plaintiffs was the foreseeable and probable
effect of the Defendant’s behaviour, but it is not necessary to find that the
Defendant deliberately intended to injure the Plaintiffs. It is sufficient if
the Plaintiffs prove by the greater weight of the evidence that the Defendant
intentionally acted in such a way that the natural and probable consequence of
their act was injury to the Plaintiffs. This has been proven. The conditions
for inflicting punitive damages are fulfilled, and we thus request the Court to
make an award of punitive damages in order to prevent the reoccurrence of such
conduct by the said regulator.
72. The
amount of punitive damages which will have a deterrent effect on the Defendants
by counterclaim in the light of the Defendant’s financial conditions, and the
seriousness of the said conduct, and of which the Court is asked to award, is
set to € 50 million.
F. Procedural issues: Conventional rights – Self-representation
and Service of judicial documents
73. Introduction:
Luxembourg courts as well as their bailiffs have consistently rejected to
serve judicial documents from our hand, arguing that we are not represented by
a lawyer, hence obstructing our right to access to court. This position, or
view, has no support whatsoever in relevant international treaties of which
Luxembourg has signed and ratified.
74. Although it is beside the point here, it
has to be noted that there are no lawyers in Luxembourg that would touch this
or similar cases, a stand which has nothing to do with the case’s merits. Quite
on the contrary, it is rather a matter of safeguarding their very existence as
lawyers in this country. Holder of claims as described in this writ have thus
no actual access to Luxembourg courts, even though the plaintiff is represented
by a lawyer.
75. Self-representation
in court and Service of judicial
documents in the EU – Facts in short: 1) Danske Bank International S.A. has
in collaboration with CSSF, the Public Prosecutor, the commercial court and the
Minister of Justice and Finance defrauded us of all our savings.[18]
2) We have been sued by the bank. 3) We wish to defend ourselves against the
perpetrators, and get back our savings and whatever we according to law are
entitled of in compensation. 4) We also see the need to file claims for damages
against some of the perpetrators for their wilful misconduct and criminal acts,
deliberately depriving us of our rights. 5) We do not speak the French
language. 6) The bailiffs in Luxembourg refuse to serve our writ of summons,
appeals and other judicial documents arguing that we are not represented by a
lawyer, and 7) The bailiffs furthermore refuses to serve documents to us in a
language which we understand, hence depriving us of our right to know,
understand and to defend ourselves.
76. The
Law – Conventions guaranteeing fair and public hearing: The United Nations
UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS Art. 10 reads as follows:
“Everyone is entitled in full equality to a
fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the
determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against
him.”
77. ECHR Art. 6 (1) reads as follows:
“In the determination of his civil rights and
obligations or of any criminal charge against him, everyone is entitled to a fair
and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial
tribunal established by law.”
78. EU-Charter Art. 47 reads as follows:
“Everyone whose rights and freedoms
guaranteed by the law of the Union are violated has the right to an effective
remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid down in this
Article.
Everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing
within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal previously
established by law. Everyone shall have the possibility of being advised,
defended and represented.
Legal aid shall be made available to those who lack
sufficient resources in so far as such aid is necessary to ensure effective
access to justice.”
79. The variety of the different guarantees
comprised under the umbrella term of "fair trial" is extensive. In
this certain matter there are at least four guarantees which are relevant:
·
Access to court
·
Fairness - Equality of arms
·
Public hearing
·
The principle of
self-representation – be advised, defended and represented
80. The
guarantees of a fair trial – “Access to Court”: So, what is “access to court”? What does that mean?
81. Access to a court is a basic precondition
of a fair legal process, and requires not only that a court is existing, but
that such a court is in fact
accessible for the plaintiff pursuant to the standards developed by the
European Court of Human Rights with regard to Article 6 (1). This understanding
is also adopted by the European Court of Justice.
82. Right of access to court was for the first
time recognized by the ECHR in the case Golder v. United Kingdom, (21 February
1975):
“It would be inconceivable that Article 6 (1)
should describe in detail the procedural guarantees afforded to parties in a
pending lawsuit and should not first protect that which alone makes it in fact
possible to benefit from such guarantees, that is, access to a court. The fair,
public and expeditious characteristics of judicial proceedings are of no value
at all if there are no judicial proceedings.”
83. In the Ashingdane case (Series A no. 93)
the ECHR stated that, although limitations may be imposed:
“it must...be established that, the
degree of access afforded under the
national legislation was sufficient
to secure the individual’s right to a court; having regard to the Rule of Law
in a democratic society...the limitations applied must not restrict or reduce the access left to the individual in
such a way or to such an extent that the very essence of the right is
impaired...Furthermore, a limitation will not be compatible with Article 6 (1)
if it does not pursue a legitimate aim
and if there is not a reasonable relationship of proportionality between the means employed and the aim sought to be
achieved.”
84. If a plaintiff chooses to present his/her
case in person, and the authorities rejects his/her attempts of going to court
arguing that he/she must be represented by a lawyer, then the plaintiff has de
facto no access to court and the Government is facing complaints for violating
the above mentioned provisions.
85. If a party to a legal dispute does not
understand or speak the language of the court of which he/she wants to present
the matter to in person, then this party obviously have no chance of filing a
lawsuit to try his/her rights. Depending on the party’s economical stand, this
problem can be redressed by the court, offering the party an interpreter.
Should the court refuse to comply with a request for an interpreter, then we
are left with the conclusion that the party has no access to court, and the
provisions mentioned above has been violated.
86. The degree
of access to the court in Luxembourg was in our case against Remesch, Hilgert, Biltgen and others,[19]
none-existing and was thus not sufficient to secure our privilege to have our
rights tried in a court of law. Furthermore the Government has through its
instructions to its judges restricted and reduced the access left to us in such
a way and to such an extent that the very essence of the right to access to a
court is not only impaired but has actually evaporated. In this regard it
should be mentioned that the Government of Luxembourg has never indicated any
valid or legitimate aim for its extensive limitations of access to court.
87. One can conclude that we will never be – at
least not under the present regime – granted any judicial proceedings in
Luxembourg as long as we maintain our conventional rights. Consequently we have
in fact no access to court and the fair, public and expeditious characteristics
of judicial proceedings are of no value at all.
88. Fairness
- Equality of arms: The case law of the European Court of Human Rights
regards the principle of equality of arms as part of the guarantee of a fair
trial and has reiterated with respect to the adversarial nature of civil
procedure, that it requires a just balance between the parties, even
when one of the parties is the State. Thus, the European Court has ruled that:
“...every party to a case must be afforded a
reasonable opportunity to present his or her case under conditions that do not
place the party at a substantial disadvantage vis-à-vis the opponent.” See
in this respect, ECHR, Kaufman v. Belgium, N° 5362/72, 42 CD 145 (1972) and
Bendenoun v. France, A 284, para. 52 (1994).
89. Accordingly, the ECHR considers this
principle to include the idea of “a just balance” between the parties. Thus, the ECHR has held that the principle of
equality of arms equates to the right to present the case to a court in equal
conditions.
90. In light of this situation, the European
Court of Human Rights found that:
“...according to the principle of equality of
arms, as one of the features of the wider concept of a fair trial, each party
must be afforded a reasonable opportunity to present his case in conditions
that do not place him at a disadvantage vis-à-vis his opponent.” Cf. ECHR,
Foucher v. France, (March 18 1997, para. 34).
91. In Ruiz Mateos v. Spain the ECHR found
that:
“…the principle of equality of arms is only
one feature of the wider concept of a fair trial, which also includes the
fundamental right that proceedings should be adversarial.”
92. The Court went on to add that:
“…within the context of proceedings on a civil
right to which persons belonging to that circle are a party, those persons must
as a rule be guaranteed free access to the observations of the other
participants in these proceedings and a genuine opportunity to comment on those
observations.” Cf. ECHR, Ruiz Mateos v. Spain, (23 June 1993, paras. 15,
61, 63 and 65).
93. ECHR has indicated that the principle of
“equality of arms” requires that parties in judicial proceedings be able to
examine the witnesses of the opponent, be informed of the reasons for
administrative decisions, be able to appeal them, and have the right to
challenge decisions on equal terms. See,
in this respect, ECHR, X v. Austria, N° 5362/72, 42 CD 145 (1972). v. Harris, D.
J., O´Boyle, M. O. and Warbrick, C., cit., p. 209; ECHR, Heinrich v.
France, A 269-A, para. 56 (1994).
94. It is a fact that Danske Bank International
S.A. has acted deceitfully and has defrauded us and numerous other persons in
Europe, and that CSSF, the public prosecutor as well as the ministers of Justice
and Finance along with the courts are protecting the crimes that led to this
writ of summons. The bank and the said institutions have thus succeeded in
their aim; deceiving and defrauding clients / investors to obtain highest
possible turnover, concealing and protecting the activity and subsequently
making it impossible for the clients / investors to seek any legal assistance
or redress.
95. In addition to the many economic problems
occurring in the wake of bank-fraud cases – e.g. defrauded and drained clients
being forced to liquidation – a protective system has been established to
obstruct any attempts from deprived parties (who still wants to fight for their
rights) to go to court and have their rights tried.
A few
words needs to be said about one particular situation of which the banks in
Luxembourg take great advantage of: It is a fact that most of the funds that
are placed in Luxembourg banks originate from tax evasive actions in different
countries. The Government as well as the banks are fully aware of this, and
they know that should the banks’ financial service violate any law, the clients
/ investors will nevertheless find it hard or even impossible to instigate
litigations against the banks as this – at the end of the day – would mean to
reveal their secrets and liabilities to the tax authorities. The Government and
the banks exploit this situation for all it’s worth.
96. Firstly this has been done by instructing
the public prosecutor to shelve all criminal complaints against institutions,
firms and well known persons in Luxembourg. Furthermore anyone whose rights
have been violated is advised (by the public prosecutor) to contact a
Luxembourg lawyer with his/her grievances.[20]
As far as we know there are no lawyers in Luxembourg who would think of
attacking or even criticising this unlawful, unconstitutional and
non-conventional crime-protective system. Anyone who attempts to make public
even the smallest illegality in the Government, faces serious reprisals, which
the case Roemen and Schmidt v Luxembourg (51772/99, ECHR) is a perfect example
of.[21]
97. Secondly all court officers have been
instructed that anyone that wants to have their rights tried in a court in
Luxembourg, shall be forced to do so through a Luxembourg lawyer, only (who obviously
is servile to the system), and that this has to be carried out in French. Since
close to all documents in a conventional bank-fraud case in Luxembourg are
drawn in English, the client is forced to pay for the translation into the
French language, which obviously is costly although totally unnecessary.
98. As a rule one is by the above mentioned
provisions guaranteed free access to the adversaries’ observations and a
genuine opportunity to comment on these observations. So far so good, but what
if these observations are drawn in a language which the defendant doesn’t
understand? In that case the observations would be of no value, the same would
go for the guarantees of free access to observations and the opportunity to
comment on them. The only way to redress this problem is to translate the
documents, or to provide the defendant with an interpreter, cf. ECHR Art. 6
(3), litra e. Luxembourg authorities has vigorously rejected all our requests
of translating judicial documents, hence leaving us in a legal vacuum totally
deprived of our right to defend ourselves.
99. We have not been afforded the opportunity
to present our case under such conditions that do not place us at a substantial
disadvantage vis-à-vis the opponent in this matter. On the contrary; unlike the
adversaries in this matter we are not afforded any opportunities at all to
present our case, thus facing a totally unbalanced litigation which clearly
gives the adversaries / the offenders an advantage you will (hopefully) not
find in many other constitutional states. It goes without saying that such said
litigation is a blatant violation of the principle of equality of arms.
100. The observer will notice that the Government
is in full control over the (all too few) bank clients who are not willing to
obey to this crime-protective system. On March 4 2010 it was announced in the
world media that a commercial court in Luxembourg had turned down a lawsuit
against UBS and Ernst & Young of which was based on gross negligence in
connection with the “Luxembourg-Madoff fraud”. The consequences of this court
decision are far-reaching: Thousands of clients have hence been deprived of
their lawful right to sue anyone who has acted to the detriment of their
interest. The rule of law is, so to speak, ruled out in Luxembourg.
101. Anyhow, we can now clearly see the outline of
an unfair preparation for an unfair trial. The Government, its institutions and
what the country bases its existence on – the numerous foreign companies – can
with ease rely on the five primary obstacles: CSSF, the public prosecutor, the
courts, the language and the lawyers, which makes any legal process against any
perpetrators linked to this “social set” of people quite unfair.
102. In short this is the unfair regime we are
living under in Luxembourg: The authorities have; refused to investigate
obvious crimes in spite of conclusive evidence; shelved close to 30 criminal
complaints in this regard; concealed documents and voice recordings proving the
crimes; put us under continuous covert surveillance; instigated illegal court
proceedings; carried out secret court proceedings; obstructed any attempts of
ours to challenge these proceedings, hence obstructed any attempts of defence,
etc. This means that we have been given no chance whatsoever to examine
witnesses or documents of the adversaries, to be informed of the reasons for
any decisions, to be able to appeal these decisions, or the right to challenge
these decisions. In fact we have been left tied up in the dark quarter of this
crime-protective system, without any possibility to defend ourselves. If
fairness and equality of arms have ever existed within the legal system of
Luxembourg, it has surely vaporised long time ago.
103. Public
hearing: This requirement, that the court be open to the parties, in the
sense of ensuring the personal presence of the parties or their
representatives, is the focal point at which all the strands of a sensible
conception of the public hearing requirement come together and from which all
the other aspects derive their full power and meaning, cf. ANSELM FEUERBACH,
Betrachtung über die Öffentlichkeit und Mündlichkeit der Gerechtigkeitspflege,
Gießen, 1821&1825, para.i, at 96.
104. If a party to a court case does not understand
or speak the language of the court, and the court ignores his/her requests for
an interpreter and his complaints of unfair trial, the conditions of “public
hearing” have not been met. If this is the case, the court is obliged to
redress this problem by offering the party an interpreter. Should the court
refuse to comply with this demand, then we are left with the conclusion that
the party has no access to court, thus there are no public hearing and the
provisions mentioned above has been violated.
105. The
principle of self-representation – be advised, defended and represented: According
to the above mentioned provisions everyone is entitled to have his/her rights
tried by a court of law.[22]
It goes without saying that a holder of legal rights has a right to defend
these rights, in person, whether inside or outside court.
106. In regards to criminal cases this has been
more explicitly stated in ECHR Art. 6 (3) litra c. For the Court’s information,
this – that it seems that this is a
conventional right only for the accused – does obviously not mean that a
defendant or a plaintiff in civil matters has lost this right.
107. According to the EU-charter Art. 47 (2),
second sentence, a party is guaranteed a right to be advised, defended and
represented. This means that a party to a lawsuit is guaranteed a right to
defend himself in person, and if he so choose he has the right to be advised,
defended and represented as well. Self-representation in the courts is a
worldwide recognized principle. Any party to a court case has thus the right to
defend his/her rights in person or through legal representation of own
choosing.
108. A problem occurs when a party to a court case
does not speak or understand the language of the court. This will, as stated
earlier, easily be redressed by providing the party with an interpreter.
Authorities in Luxembourg have instead of complying with international treaties
traditionally obstructed any such attempts by demanding the party to have a
Luxembourg lawyer representing the party’s interests in court.
109. Conclusion
and demands: In conclusion this means that we are – in accordance with the
aforementioned provisions – entitled to be granted access to courts in
Luxembourg. Furthermore we are entitled to present our case in court, in
person. In this context we would like to inform the Court that Mr. Berge is a
jurist, he has been acting as an in-house lawyer for many years, he has won
several cases in the ECHR (Strasbourg), and he is fully capable of taking care
of our rights and interests in court.
110. The bailiffs’ argument that our writ of
summons can not be served as long as we are not represented by a lawyer is a
violation of all of the above mentioned provisions. Furthermore, the bailiffs
in Luxembourg are not judges but merely – besides standing as by far the
largest organization of debt-collectors in the country – messengers of the
court where their duty is to serve the court and the parties, or rather; the
users of the court. The bailiffs are thus in no position to decide upon whether
a writ of summons is admissible or not.
111. As the bailiffs in Luxembourg are ordered to
not serve our judicial documents we petition the Court to serve this writ of
summons without further due and to grant us access to court, in person, as
self-representatives.
112. Oral
hearing: The Defendant has wilfully kept documents and voice recordings
secret. Furthermore the Defendant has refused to comply with our motion for
discovery, hence essential facts have still not been revealed. According to the
ECHR and the EU-Charter we are entitled to an oral public hearing before an
independent and impartial court of law. The Luxembourg Court of First Instance
and its officers have, previously, wilfully and effectively deprived us of this
right. Should the judges of the Court of First Instance still believe that
European citizens have no conventional rights in Luxembourg, we would then like
to remind the Court that this is not so.[23]
We will thus claim that we have a conventional right to an oral hearing, of
which shall take place in the Court of First Instance.
G. Causes of
action against CSSF
113. As
described in detail above and in the documentation enclosed, the Defendant has
committed deceit and/or fraud and/or negligence and/or gross negligence in the
course of fulfilling its duties as the single regulator in the financial market
in Luxembourg. Its wrongful and/or grossly negligent acts have caused direct
harm to the Plaintiffs as well as to numerous international investors, acts
which has incurred substantial investigation costs and opportunity costs in
addition to substantial economic and non-pecuniary loss. As a direct
consequence of the Defendant’s misconduct, the Plaintiffs have not been able to
establish a reasonable and secure livelihood, a situation which has come
costly.
114. Had
the Defendant conducted its surveillance and supervisory assignment in
accordance with law, had it withheld its unlawful active support to the bank
and refrained from preventing actions/probes/investigations against the bank
(hence protecting the bank), had it intervened to prevent the bank from
committing fraudulent acts, or had it not committed negligence itself, Danske
Bank International S.A. would not have been in a position to carry out or
maintain its fraudulent activity, and the Plaintiffs would therefore not have
been harmed. The Defendant is liable for the results of its tortious or
quasi-tortious acts, and the Plaintiffs therefore seek judgment against the
Defendant as compensation for the damages they have suffered.
115. In
the main hearing we will argue that CSSF and hence the Luxembourg Government
has the sole responsibility for the national financial crisis and is partly
responsible for the global financial crisis.
116. On these grounds the Plaintiffs therefore
request that this Court:
1.
declare that this Complaint
presents a valid claim;
2. declare
that the Plaintiffs’ claim against the Defendant is valid on the merits;
3. declare
that the Plaintiffs - In accordance with The United Nations Universal
Declaration of Human Rights Art. 10, the ECHR Art. 6 (1) and the EU-Charter
Art. 47 – has a right to present their claim in court, in person;
4. appoints
an interpreter;
5. award compensatory damages, by reason
of the actions described above, in the
amount of € 1.982.000
(Euro-one-nine-eight-two-zero-zero-zero) and order the Defendant to pay to the
Plaintiffs the entire amount stated;
6. award Pain-and-suffering damages, by
reason of the actions described above,
in the amount of € 10.000.000 (Euro-one-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero)
and order the Defendant to pay to the Plaintiffs the entire amount stated;
7. award opportunity cost, by reason
of the actions described above, in the
amount of € 10.000.000
(Euro-one-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero) and order the Defendant to pay to
the Plaintiffs the entire amount stated;
8. award
Punitive damages, by reason
of the actions described above, in the amount of € 50.000.000 (Euro-five-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero)
and order the Defendant to pay to
the Plaintiffs the entire amount stated;
9. open
this case for class action;
10.order
the Defendant to pay all or part of the costs and expenses of these
proceedings;
11.order
the Defendant to pay interest
up to and after the date of judgment in accordance with the terms of the
applicable law;
12.award
such further and other relief as the President may advise and that this
Honourable Court may deem just;
The
Plaintiffs expressly reserve their right to serve in due course any other legal
or natural person who has acted under or on behalf of CSSF. The Plaintiffs
expressly reserve their right to assert other claims or causes of action.
-------------------- --------------------
Katalin
Baranyi Herman J Berge
PhD Scholar LLB
DATED in Luxembourg this 31st
day of January 2011; delivered by fax and mail by the Plaintiffs whose address
for service is Mr. Herman J Berge
and Ms Katalin Baranyi, 665 rue de Neudorf, L-2220 Luxembourg.
NOTICE
TO:
1. Jean Guill, on behalf of CSSF
You have been sued. You are a Defendant. You
have as many days as the Luxembourg Civil Procedure act provides you with to
file and serve a Statement of Defence. You or your lawyer must file your
Statement of Defence in the office of the Clerk of the TRIBUNAL
D’ARRONDISSEMENT DE LUXEMBOURG [LUXEMBOURG]. You or your lawyer
must also leave a copy of your Statement of Defence at the address for service
for the Plaintiffs named in this writ.
WARNING:
If you do not do both things within the time given, you may automatically
(by default judgment) lose the law suit. The Plaintiffs may get a Court
judgment against you if you do not file, or do not give a copy to the
Plaintiffs, or do either thing late.
Address for Service of Defendant will be:
1.
Jean Guill: 110, route d’Arlon, L-2991 Luxembourg
-------------------- --------------------
Katalin Baranyi Herman J Berge
PhD Scholar LLB
DATED in Luxembourg this 31st
day of January 2011; delivered by fax and mail by the Plaintiffs whose address
for service is Mr. Herman J Berge
and Ms Katalin Baranyi, 665 rue de Neudorf, L-2220 Luxembourg.
RettsNorge.no © 1997 - 2011 • Opphavsrett
[1] European Economic Area (EEA)
[2] Copenhagen Post Online,
[3] Viking Schiffsfinanz AG (aka Viking Bank)
[4] Ship-owners
[5] “Dagny
Amelia Olsen (Norway) and Einar Riis (Monaco)”
[6] Situated in Oslo, Norway, owned by
Danske Bank AS, Denmark.
[7] Demonstrated by a letter of
September 14 1978 from Chief Judge Nils B. Hohle to the Norwegian Attorney
General where he declared that he was willing to puncture the $14 million
compensation litigation Riis had raised against the Government a few months
earlier. The lawsuit was thwarted by the Attorney General and the Government
for more than 20 years, and it was this lawsuit that was settled in 2003.
[8] As the Norwegian Government
illegally had black listed Mr. Berge and in this regard was obstructing
justice, his business and all legal activities he was engaged in, it was
essential – for protection purposes – to have these funds transferred out of
Norway as soon as possible.
[9] Late December 2003, Mr. Riis
deposited some NOK 20 million with the Danske Bank International S.A. We have
later on learned that Danske Bank International S.A. – within a period of only
three months – had defrauded close to NOK 2 million of this deposit, forcing
Mr. Riis to end his relationship with the bank and transfer what was left of
the funds to BNP Paribas, Monaco. This transfer was carried out in mid March
2004. Simultaneously the person responsible for defrauding this accountholder
was shipped back to Copenhagen, and the bank could keep on with its business as
nothing had happened. CSSF has been notified about this fraud, but has
nevertheless refrained from acting upon the information.
[10] According to the public prosecutor
all activities referred to are of lawful nature in Luxembourg; i.e. churning,
violation of the Secrecy Act, fraud, fraudulent concealment, embezzlement,
perjury etc. The Public Prosecutor has furthermore stated in a taped
conversation that he has never heard of a bank defrauding its clients, which
gives us an indication on the situation in Luxembourg at large, cf. the
BCCI-fraud, the world’s larges fraud, made possible in Luxembourg thanks to the
Luxembourg financial supervisory authority, CSSF’s predecessor.
[11] This meeting has been recorded and
transcribed by us, nevertheless the bank denies all incriminating statements
made during this meeting.
[12] Kaupang Leighton did not
mention with a word that she had placed parts of our savings in the Lehman
Brothers-USB-Madoff-Fraud-Scheme and that all this was lost at the time of her
statement.
[13] Markets in financial instruments
directive
[14] Both of them were assigned by the
bank as our wealth managers.
[15] CSSF, Public Prosecutor and the
courts.
[16] If CSSF or its predecessor had
conducted its supervision and surveillance according to law, CSSF or its
predecessor would have revealed this fact on the threshold of the bank’s
unlawful activity.
[17] On March 4 2010 the Court of First
Instance passed a decision (compensation litigation between investors and UBS /
Ernst & Young) which in fact will block hundreds of investors from filing
lawsuits against the Madoff-conspirators, and one can yet again clearly see the
crime-protective system at work.
[18] This fact has been duly documented
in previous correspondence with the said institutions as well as in this writ.
[19] Writ of summons, claims for damages
against the judges and others for having carried out a secret hearing and
passed a secret decision ordering us to pay the bank in question almost ½
million Euro, filed to the Court of First Instance on November 16 2010.
[20] Hence it is put in the hands of the
lawyers in Luxembourg (not the police / prosecutor) to assess whether the
matter is of criminal nature or not.
[21] A minister of the Government had
been fined for tax fraud. A Luxembourg journalist published and article about
the matter. In fact the Minister in question instructed a judge to have the
police to raid both the journalist’s office and home as well as his lawyer’s
office, in search for any evidence which could take down the journalist and his
representative, Anne-Marie Schmidt. This is exactly what happens in Luxembourg
if anyone dares to shed light on crimes within the administration.
[22] Please note that the said
provisions do not narrow down this right to: “…through a legal representative.”
[23] In case of Fischer v. Austria,
Application no. 16922/90, 26 April 1995, the ECHR found that the plaintiff’s
right to a public hearing pursuant to the European Convention on Human Rights
included a right to an oral hearing.
In finding so, the ECHR considered, inter alia, the important factual issues
that needed to be reviewed; Case of Axen v. Germany, Application no. 8273/78, 8
December 1983, where the ECHR writes at paragraph 25 that “…the public
character of proceedings before the judicial bodies … protects litigants …”;
and Case of Fredin v. Sweden (No. 2), Application no. 18928/91, 23 February
1994, where the ECHR found a violation of the plaintiff’s right to a public
hearing, partly based on the factual issues that needed to be addressed in the
oral hearing that was requested by the plaintiff and subsequently denied. The ECHR
noted that the right to a public hearing “may entail … an ‘oral hearing’ ”
(para. 21), “…the Court is of the view that, in such circumstances at least,
Article 6 para. 1 …guarantees a right to an oral hearing” (para. 22).