The classification of tax disputes, human rights implications

Abstract

The case of Giorgio Ferrazzini was a case over a tax assessment which took fourteen years to conclude. In essence, Giorgio Ferrazzini argued that the length of the proceedings relating to the determination of the issue had exceeded a “reasonable time” contrary to Article 6 § 1 of the Convention. The ECtHR declared the complaint admissible but held, eleven votes to six, that Article 6 § 1 of the Convention does not apply to tax disputes because tax disputes are not civil rights and obligations to which Article 6 applies. The decision of the ECtHR in Ferrazzini implies that in a tax dispute a litigant does not have a right to a fair hearing under Article 6 of the Convention (‘the Ferrazzini dictum’). [excerpt]