00:00The judgment in Klein and Others v. the Netherlands, delivered by the ECHR on 6 May 2003, specifies that the double
00:05The advisory and jurisdictional role of a Council of State does not automatically violate the right to an impartial tribunal, article
00:116.1 of the ECHR.
00:13Seized by applicants who contested the route of a railway line, the Court held that this duality of
00:18The function is conventional, provided that the same advisor does not have to judge a dispute on which he has
00:23already personally given a precise advisory opinion.
00:26In this case, the opinions of the Dutch Council of State concerned a general framework law and not the
00:31disputed route orders led the Court to conclude that there was no violation of the Convention.