The Right to a Fair Trial in International Law

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clooney Amal ◽  
Webb Philippa
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Fair Trial ◽  
Criminal Proceedings ◽  
Human Right ◽  
The World ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right

This book brings together the diverse sources of international law that define the right to a fair trial in the context of criminal proceedings. It aims to make the law accessible to counsel and meaningful to victims in courtrooms all over the world. By focusing on what the right to a fair trial means in practice, it seeks to bring to life the commitment made by over 170 states parties to the ICCPR. The book is subdivided into 14 substantive chapters each dealing with one component of the right to a fair trial. Each chapter collates and analyses international sources, highlighting both consensus and division in the international jurisprudence. The book aims to be the global reference for the most frequently litigated human right in the world.

The Machinery of International Law and Democratic Backsliding

2021 ◽  
pp. 136-146
Author(s):  
Tom Ginsburg
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
International Law ◽  
Term Limits ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Constitutional Amendments ◽  
The World ◽  
International Rights ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right

This chapter focuses on the abuse of international rights to political participation so as to facilitate a leader's remaining in office beyond the constitutionally mandated term. This involves not only the abuse of the interpretation of rights, but also the abuse of the doctrine of unconstitutional constitutional amendments, which has spread around the world in recent years. How does this happen and what, if anything, can international law do about it? After introducing a motivating case — the famous decision of the Colombian Constitutional Court in the second re-election decision, in which courts stood for the protection of democracy — the chapter examines recent 'bad' cases in which rights and constitutional amendments are abused to extend leaders' terms. It surveys recent developments in the law of term limits, and briefly proposes a normative interpretation of the right to political participation which ought to be consistent with the emerging doctrine. The chapter suggests that there is an emerging consensus, at least in some regions of the world, that there are limits in states' ability to modify term limits unconditionally.

12 Right to Equality

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clooney Amal ◽  
Webb Philippa
Keyword(s):  
Fair Trial ◽  
Equal Treatment ◽  
Equal Protection ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Criminal Proceedings ◽  
Foreign Nationality ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right ◽  
Procedural Rights ◽  
Equality Of Access

This chapter focuses on the right to equality before courts and tribunals, which requires that all parties to criminal proceedings are treated without discrimination. The right underlies the rule of law. It is codified in Article 14(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which provides ‘[a]ll persons shall be equal before the courts and tribunals’. It is also enshrined in Article 14(3), which refers to the minimum guarantees of a fair trial ‘in full equality’. This chapter considers three areas in which the right to equality before courts and tribunals may arise in criminal proceedings: equality of treatment, equality of arms, and equality of access. In terms of equal treatment, Article 26 of the ICCPR provides ‘that all persons are equal before the law and are entitled to equal protection of the law without discrimination, and that the law shall guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any of the enumerated grounds’. These grounds include ‘race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status’. Equality of treatment applies to all individuals, not just to defendants, and requires equal treatment by all organs of the state, not just judicial authorities. Meanwhile, equality of arms ensures that the same procedural rights are to be provided to all the parties to a case, ‘unless distinctions are based on law and can be justified on objective and reasonable grounds, not entailing actual disadvantage or other unfairness to the defendant’. It does not necessarily require mathematical equality between the prosecution and the defence. Equality of access issues may arise in criminal proceedings when a defendant’s access to court is hindered because of his detention, disability, or his foreign nationality, or when a defendant is forced to be tried before a military or special court rather than having access to a regular civilian court. The right to equality before courts and tribunals has been used relatively infrequently to vindicate fair trial violations, which may in part be attributed to the challenges of proving discrimination.

Under the Law

2018 ◽  
Vol 99 (5) ◽  
pp. 76-77
Author(s):  
Julie Underwood
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
International Law ◽  
Universal Declaration ◽  
Educational Rights ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
The World ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right ◽  
The U.S

The right to an education is guaranteed by international law in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Similarly, UNESCO’s Constitution sets out the right to an education as necessary to “prepare the children of the world for the responsibilities of freedom.” No such right is mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, though. Perhaps Congress or the Supreme Court would be sympathetic, however, to an argument for educational rights based on the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of the rights of citizenship.

The right to a fair trial in the ECHR judicature

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 17-27
Author(s):  
Ewa Tamara Szuber-Bednarz
Keyword(s):  
Fair Trial ◽  
Human Right ◽  
The World ◽  
The Right

The right to a fair trial is a fundamental human right. It is all the more important when the right to a fair trial is infringed more and more frequently in various regions of the world. Therefore, selected ECHR judgments were analysed.

scholarly journals Investigative and the Rule of Law: A Cameroonian and Ukrainian Criminal Proceedings Law Understanding

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 517-538
Author(s):  
Nana Charles Nguindip ◽  
Leonid Volodymyrovych Mohilevskyi ◽  
Ablamskyi Serhii Yevhenovych ◽  
Tetiana Kuzubova
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Due Process ◽  
Criminal Proceedings ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Criminal Process ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Crime Commission ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right

There is no instance in a given society that can successfully opeate and function without respecting existing standards and principles set in place in ensuring the respect of fundamental human right and dignity. The notion and acceptable rule is that, Crime commission is an unavoidable singularity in any given and documented society functioning under the umbrella of established rules and regulations. Cameroon and Ukraine has engaged huge steps in establishing credible laws, all in the preservation and protection of fundamental human right of those presumed of crime commission. This article articulates and establishes that,the only way the rule of law can be respected during the investigative stage, will only when those responsible for investigation respects the due process of the law in the course of its investigation so that their act should not contravene the right of the suspect or accused in question. It provides that when issues of investigation are carried out by Ukraine and Cameroon police, gross violations of the criminal process are always experienced, and this greatly affects the objective of criminal law being that of protecting the right and dignity of everyone irrespective of the status quo acquired during the criminal proceedings.the results of this gross violation of the accuesed rights and status during the investigative stage will affect the rationale and objective of the criminal law system which is to ensure that all criminal process should respect human standard and dignity. The reason for this is that, during the investigative process and procedure, the law enforcement ofiicers must be able in detaching their various duties assigned with due diligent and respect of the various criminal standards of investigation. To ensure that this is done, there is that need of those enforcing the jucial process and trial should that all evidences, searches, seizures, recording done by the investigative police officials should be done in accordance of the free will of the presumed criminal.

scholarly journals Russian tradition ensuring the right to a fair trial

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-226
Author(s):  
A A Tymoshenko
Keyword(s):  
Fair Trial ◽  
Criminal Proceedings ◽  
National Legislation ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right

The author based on the analysis of monuments of national legislation comes to a conclusion about the presence in Russia of their traditions to ensure the right to a fair trial. The criterion of fairness of the criminal proceedings is not only the law, but its application in practice. Forming enforcers proper attitude toward the law will ensure proper implementation at criminal proceedings of the rights and freedoms of man and citizen.

scholarly journals Vietnam’s New Law on the Right of Parties to Choose Applicable Law in Civil Relations Involving Foreign Elements

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 93
Author(s):  
Tran Thi Thu Phuong
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Legal Systems ◽  
Applicable Law ◽  
Application Of Law ◽  
The World ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right

In private international law, the right of the parties to choose law applicable has been acknowledged in most legal systems. However, the scope of this right of agreement varies according to the statutory regulations of each country. This paper clarifies the scope of right to agreement on applicable law of the parties, as well as the mechanism for controlling the application of law as agreed upon by the parties in private international law of Vietnam. This article also makes comparison with the law of some countries in the world in order to point out the differences between them and to make comments, assessments of the current statutory regulations of Vietnam on such issues.

Nationality, State Succession, and the Right of Option: The Case of Québec

1999 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. 151-180
Author(s):  
Gibran van Ert
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
The State ◽  
Human Right ◽  
State Practice ◽  
State Succession ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right ◽  
Nationality Law

SummarySome advocates of Québec separatism claim that Quebecers could retain their Canadian nationality following Québec’s secession from Canada. This article examines international nationality law to test the accuracy of that claim. A device known as an option exists in international law as a means of allowing individuals to determine for themselves the effect of state succession upon their nationality. This article considers the place of options in the law of state succession, both as it now stands and as proposed by the International Law Commission’s Draft Articles on the Nationality of Natural Persons in Relation to the Succession of States, 1997. Four possible arguments in favour of a Québécois option are given, the most convincing of which arises by analogy to state practice in the use of plebiscites. This argument suggests that international law would require the state of Québec to grant all Canadians affected by Québec’s secession a right to opt for Canadian nationality instead of Québécois nationality with the caveat that those opting to retain Canadian nationality could face expulsion from Québec. Finally, the article suggests that the development of human rights in international law should extend to recognize a true human right of option in cases of state succession. Regrettably, the ILC Draft hinders, rather than encourages, this desirable development.

scholarly journals Comment: The Preliminary Inquiry in Ethiopia and Its Adverse Impact on the Rights of the Accused

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-160
Author(s):  
Wondwossen Demissie Kassa
Keyword(s):  
Attorney General ◽  
Criminal Procedure ◽  
Fair Trial ◽  
Adverse Impact ◽  
Criminal Investigation ◽  
Criminal Proceedings ◽  
Procedure Code ◽  
Unique Nature ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right

Whether preliminary inquiry should be conducted following completion of criminal investigation was one of the issues that arose in criminal proceedings of leaders of some opposition parties who were arrested (in June and July 2020) following the assassination of Hachalu Hundessa. The Court accepted the request of the Office of the Attorney General for the holding of preliminary inquiry. While the request of the Office of the Attorney General and the ruling of the court are consistent with the 1961 Criminal Procedure Code, in view of the unique nature of the Ethiopian Preliminary Inquiry, both the request and the ruling adversely affect the right of the accused to a fair trial. The application of the law regulating preliminary inquiry would be a departure from the principle of equality of arms and the right of the accused to confrontation, both of which are elements of the right to a fair trial. It is argued (in this comment) that using evidence obtained during preliminary inquiry against the accused is inconsistent with the FDRE Constitution and relevant international legal instruments.

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