A fair trial is a trial which is "conducted fairly, justly, and with procedural regularity by an impartial judge". Various rights associated with a fair trial are explicitly proclaimed in Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights, as well as numerous other constitutions and declarations throughout the world. There is no binding

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

that defines what is not a fair trial; for example, the right to a

jury trial A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Jury trials are used in a significant ...

and other important procedures vary from nation to nation.

Definition in international human rights law

The right to fair trial is very helpful to explore in numerous declarations which represent

customary international law Customary international law is an aspect of international law involving the principle of custom. Along with general principles of law and treaties, custom is considered by the International Court of Justice, jurists, the United Nations, and its me ...

, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Though the UDHR enshrines some fair trial rights, such as the

presumption of innocence The presumption of innocence is a legal principle that every person accused of any crime is considered innocent until proven guilty. Under the presumption of innocence, the legal burden of proof is thus on the prosecution, which must present ...

until the accused is proven guilty, in Articles 6, 7, 8 and 11, the key provision is Article 10 which states that:

"Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him."

Some years after the UDHR was adopted, the right to a fair trial was defined in more detail in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The right to a fair trial is protected in Articles 14 and 16 of the ICCPR which is binding in international law on those states that are party to it. Article 14(1) establishes the basic right to a fair trial, article 14(2) provides for the

, and article 14(3) sets out a list of minimum fair trial rights in criminal proceedings. Article 14(5) establishes the right of a convicted person to have a higher court review the conviction or sentence, and article 14(7) prohibits double jeopardy. Article 14(1) states that:

"All persons shall be equal before the courts and tribunals. In the determination of any criminal charge against him, or of his rights and obligations in a suit at law, everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law. The press and the public may be excluded from all or part of a trial for reasons of morals, public order or national security in a democratic society, or when the interest of the private lives of the parties so requires, or to the extent strictly necessary in the opinion of the court in special circumstances where publicity would prejudice the interests of justice; but any judgement rendered in a criminal case or in a suit at law shall be made public except where the interest of juvenile persons otherwise requires or the proceedings concern matrimonial disputes or the guardianship of children."

Geneva Conventions

The Geneva Conventions (GC) and their Additional Protocols (APs) require that any prisoners of war facing a judicial proceeding receive a fair trial.Nehal Bhuta
Joint Series on International Law and Armed Conflict: Fair Trial Guarantees in Armed Conflict
''EJIL: Talk! Blog of the European Journal of European Law'' (September 22, 2016). For example, Articles 102–108 of the 1949 Third Geneva Convention detail requirements for the fairness of trials against prisoners of war. Other provisions require a "fair and regular trial"; "safeguards of proper trial and defence"; an "impartial and regularly constituted court respecting the generally recognized principles of regular judicial procedure"; a "regularly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples"; and "court offering the essential guarantees of independence and impartiality."

Definition in regional human rights law

The right to a fair trial is enshrined in articles 3, 7 and 26 of the

African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (also known as the Banjul Charter) is an international human rights instrument that is intended to promote and protect human rights and basic freedoms in the African continent. It emerged under t ...

(ACHPR). The right to a fair trial is also enshrined in articles 5, 6 and 7 of the

European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by t ...

and articles 2 to 4 of the 7th Protocol to the convention. The right to a fair trial is furthermore enshrined in articles 3, 8, 9 and 10 of the

American Convention on Human Rights The American Convention on Human Rights, also known as the Pact of San José, is an international human rights instrument. It was adopted by many countries in the Western Hemisphere in San José, Costa Rica, on 22 November 1969. It came into forc ...

Relationship with other rights

The right to equality before the law is sometimes regarded as part of the right to a fair trial. It is typically guaranteed under a separate article in international human rights instruments. The right entitles individuals to be recognised as subject, not as object, of the law. International human rights law permits no derogation or exceptions to this human right. Closely related to the right to a fair trial is the prohibition on

ex post facto law An ''ex post facto'' law (from ) is a law that retroactively changes the legal consequences (or status) of actions that were committed, or relationships that existed, before the enactment of the law. In criminal law, it may criminalize actions ...

, or retroactive law, which is enshrined in human rights instrument separately from the right to fair trial and can not be limited by states according to the

and the

Fair trial rights

The right to a fair trial has been defined in numerous regional and international human rights instruments. It is one of the most extensive human rights and all international human rights instruments enshrine it in more than one article. The right to a fair trial is one of the most litigated human rights and substantial case law that has been established on the interpretation of this human right. Despite variations in wording and placement of the various fair trial rights, international human rights instrument define the right to a fair trial in broadly the same terms. The aim of the right is to ensure the proper administration of justice. As a minimum the right to fair trial includes the following fair trial rights in civil and

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

proceedings: * the right to be heard by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal * the right to a

public hearing In law, a hearing is a proceeding before a court or other decision-making body or officer, such as a government agency or a legislative committee. Description A hearing is generally distinguished from a trial in that it is usually shorter and ...

* the right to be heard within a reasonable time * the

right to counsel In criminal law, the right to counsel means a defendant has a legal right to have the assistance of counsel (i.e., lawyers) and, if the defendant cannot afford a lawyer, requires that the government appoint one or pay the defendant's legal exp ...

* the right to interpretation States may limit the right to a fair trial or derogate from the fair trial rights only under circumstances specified in the human rights instruments.

In civil and criminal proceedings

The European Court of Human Rights and the

Inter-American Court of Human Rights The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR or IACtHR) is an international court based in San José, Costa Rica. Together with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it was formed by the American Convention on Human Rights, a human ...

have clarified that the right to a fair trial applies to all types of judicial proceedings, whether civil or

. According to the European Court of Human Rights, Article 6 of the

and the fair trial rights apply to all civil rights and obligations created under domestic law and therefore to all civil proceedings (see ''Apeh Uldozotteinek Szovetsege and Others v. Hungary'' 2000).

In administrative proceedings

Both the European Court of Human Rights and the

have clarified that the right to a fair trial applies not only to judicial proceedings, but also administrative proceedings. If an individual's right under the law is at stake, the dispute must be determined through a fair process.

In special proceedings

In Europe special proceeding may also be subject to Article 6 of the

. In ''Mills v. the United Kingdom'' 2001 the European Court of Human Rights held that a court-martial was subject to Article 6 because of the defendants had been accused of what the court considered to be serious crime, assault with a weapon and wounding. The

African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) is a quasi-judicial body tasked with promoting and protecting human rights and collective (peoples') rights throughout the African continent as well as interpreting the African Charter ...

(ACHPR) frequently deals with instances where

civilians Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not "combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant, b ...

are tried by

military tribunals Military justice (also military law) is the legal system (bodies of law and procedure) that governs the conduct of the active-duty personnel of the armed forces of a country. In some nation-states, civil law and military law are distinct bodi ...

for serious crimes. The ACHPR has held that on the face of it military courts to do not satisfy civilians' right to a fair trial (see ''Constitutional Rights Project v. Nigeria''). In this respect the ACHPR has reaffirmed the

as essential in guaranteeing a fair trial. The ACHPR held that individuals have the right to choose their own counsel and that giving the military tribunal the right to veto a counsel violates the right to a fair trial.

In the United Kingdom

Right to a fair trial in the United Kingdom is guaranteed by the Article 6 of the

Human Rights Act 1998 The Human Rights Act 1998 (c. 42) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which received royal assent on 9 November 1998, and came into force on 2 October 2000. Its aim was to incorporate into UK law the rights contained in the European Con ...

. Between 1971 and 1975, the right to a fair trial was suspended in Northern Ireland. Suspects were simply imprisoned without trial, and interrogated by the British army for information. This power was mostly used against the Catholic minority. The British government supplied deliberately misleading evidence to the European Court of Human Rights when it investigated this issue in 1978.'British ministers sanctioned torture of NI internees'
(5 June 2014) The Irish government and human rights group

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

requested that the ECHR reconsider the case in December 2014. Three court cases related to the Northern Ireland conflict that took place in mainland Britain in 1975 and 1976 have been accused of being unfair, resulting in the imprisonment of the

Birmingham Six The Birmingham Six were six Irishmen who were each sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975 following their false convictions for the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings. Their convictions were declared unsafe and unsatisfactory and quashed by the C ...

Guildford Four and Maguire Seven The Guildford Four and Maguire Seven were the collective names of two groups whose convictions in English courts in 1975 and 1976 for the Guildford pub bombings of 5 October 1974 were eventually quashed after long campaigns for justice. The Guil ...

. These convictions were later overturned, though an investigation into allegations that police officers perverted the course of justice failed to convict anyone of wrongdoing. The United Kingdom created an act – the Special Immigration Appeals Act in 1997, which then led to the creation of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC). It allowed for secret evidence to be stated in court; however, it provides provisions for the anonymity of the sources and information itself. The judge has the power to clear the courtroom of the public and press, and the appellant if need be, if sensitive information must be relayed. The appellant is provided with a Special Advocate, who is appointed in order to represent their interests, however no contact can be made with the appellant after seeing the secret evidence. SIAC is mostly used for deportation cases, and other cases of public interest. Secret evidence has seen increased use in UK courts. Some argue that this undermines the British criminal justice system, as this evidence may not come under proper democratic scrutiny. Secret evidence can now be used in wide range of cases including deportations hearings, control orders proceedings, parole board cases, asset-freezing applications, pre-charge detention hearings in terrorism cases, employment tribunals and planning tribunals. In England and Wales, the origin of Right To Fair Trial & Right To Be Heard can be traced back in the Magna Carta Act, 1215. Art. 39 of the Act speaks about fair trial and punishment by a competent court after the trial.

Juries and a fair trial

The rationale for a jury was that it offers a check against state power. Under Article 6 of the

ECHR ECHR may refer to: * European Convention on Human Rights * European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interp ...

, the right to a fair trial implies that accused and public must be able to understand the verdict. Trials decided by jury, as they do not provide reasons for their decision, therefore do not allow for this. In Taxquet v Belgium a violation of article 6(1) was found. The court also implied a right to a reasoned verdict, irrespective of whether that was given by a judge or a jury. Under ECHR case law, jury decisions can also be problematic in circumstances where juries draw adverse inferences from trial judges' directions in contravention of Article 6(3) (b) and (c).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Right To A Fair Trial Criminal law Criminal procedure Types of trials Human rights by issue Prisoners' and ex-prisoners' rights