The Court decided that (a) the process of surcharging by administrative bodies engaged the criminal part of Article 6 and (b) the Austrian courts hearing appeals against the surcharges did not have the jurisdiction to carry out a «full review» of the decision to surcharge; only that way could one turn
the combination of administrative decision and court decision into a decision by a «tribunal» complying with Article 6.
But in
administrative law, the
combination of a refusal to extend a constitutional requirement
of adjudicative independence to
administrative tribunals and the emphasis on deference to such tribunals»
decisions even on legal questions blurs that line into invisibility.