Chapter 7 • The Right to a Fair Trial: Part II – From Trial to Final Judgement Committee explained that the right to a fair trial in article 14(1) as read in conjunction with article 14(3)(f) of the Covenant “does not imply that the accused be afforded the possibility to express himself in the language which he normally speaks or speaks with a maximum of ease”; on the contrary, “if the court is certain”, as it was in this case, “that the accused is sufficiently proficient in the court’s language, it is not required to ascertain whether it would be preferable for the accused to express himself in a language other than the court language”.175 ***** The European Court of Human Rights has held with regard to article 6(3)(e) of the European Convention that the term “free” denotes “once and for all exemption or exoneration”.176 In its view, “it would run counter not only to the ordinary meaning of [the term] free”, but also “to the object and purpose” of article 6, and in particular of article 6(3)(e), “if this latter paragraph were to be reduced to the guarantee of a right to provisional exemption from payment – not preventing the domestic courts from making a convicted person bear the interpretation costs –, since the right to a fair trial which Article 6 seeks to safeguard would itself be adversely affected”.177 Article 6(3)(e) as construed in the context of the right to a fair trial as guaranteed by article 6(1), consequently “signifies that an accused who cannot understand or speak the language used in court has the right to the free assistance of an interpreter for the translation or interpretation of all those documents or statements in the proceedings instituted against him which it is necessary for him to understand in order to have the benefit of a fair trial”.178 Consequently, where the courts of the Federal Republic of Germany had attributed the costs of the interpretation to the applicants, article 6(3)(e) of the Convention was found to have been violated.179 An accused person not able to speak and understand the language used by the authorities in the course of the criminal proceedings against him or her has the right to free interpretation and translation of all documents in these proceedings. This right is independent of the final outcome of the trial. 175 Ibid., loc. cit. 176 Eur. Court HR, Case of Luedicke, Belkacem and Koç, judgment of 28 November 1978, Series A, No. 29, para. 40 at p. 17. 177 Ibid., para. 42 at p. 18. 178 Ibid., p. 20, para. 48. 179 Ibid., pp. 20-21, paras. 49-50. 292 Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers