ABSTRACT
Mr Gabriel Woukam Moudefo, a Cameroonian, was arrested in France on 1 October 1980 on suspicion of involvement in armed robbery. Two days later he was charged with aggravated theft and attempted murder. He submitted seven applications for his release which were all rejected, as were his appeals. He asked the President of the Conseil d’Etat to appoint a lawyer for him and was told that the services of a lawyer were not obligatory in criminal proceedings, but that his case would be investigated and defence counsel appointed if a genuine ground of appeal were found to exist. The President of the Bar Association subsequently responded that a colleague who had examined the case had been unable to find a ground which could be usefully relied upon. On 23 December 1983 the investigating judge ordered the applicant’s discharge on the ground of insufficient evidence. The applicant claimed compensation and was awarded FF 30,000, the compensation board acknowledging that the length of detention on remand, three years and three months, appeared manifestly excessive. The applicant complained of the length of both his detention on remand and the criminal proceedings and the fact that he had not received the assistance of a lawyer in the Court of Cassation. Comm found by majority (11 with one abstention) V 5(3) and 6(1), (6-5 with one abstention) V 5(4).
