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Minimum guarantees in criminal proceedings

Rights and Freedoms

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ICCPR Article 14 states

  1. 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 (ordre public) 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.



    (These guarantees apply in all proceedings including criminal proceedings. In criminal prodeedings, additional safeguards apply as follows.)

     
  2. Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall have the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law.
  3. In the determination of any criminal charge against him, everyone shall be entitled to the following minimum guarantees, in full equality:
  4. (a) To be informed promptly and in detail in a language which he understands of the nature and cause of the charge against him;

    (b) To have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defence and to communicate with counsel of his own choosing;(c) To be tried without undue delay

    (d) To be tried in his presence, and to defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choosing; to be informed, if he does not have legal assistance, of this right; and to have legal assistance assigned to him, in any case where the interests of justice so require, and without payment by him in any such case if he does not have sufficient means to pay for it;

    (e) To examine, or have examined, the witnesses against him and to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on his behalf under the same conditions as witnesses against him;

    (f) To have the free assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand or speak the language used in court;

    (g) Not to be compelled to testify against himself or to confess guilt.
  5. In the case of juvenile persons, the procedure shall be such as will take account of their age and the desirability of promoting their rehabilitation.
  6. Everyone convicted of a crime shall have the right to his conviction and sentence being reviewed by a higher tribunal according to law.
  7. When a person has by a final decision been convicted of a criminal offence and when subsequently his conviction has been reversed or he has been pardoned on the ground that a new or newly discovered fact shows conclusively that there has been a miscarriage of justice, the person who has suffered punishment as a result of such conviction shall be compensated according to law, unless it is proved that the non-disclosure of the unknown fact in time is wholly or partly attributable to him.
  8. No one shall be liable to be tried or punished again for an offence for which he has already been finally convicted or acquitted in accordance with the law and penal procedure of each country.

Commission work

Submissions

Other work

International scrutiny

  • Katsuno & Ors v Australia (2006)

    Views of Committee in Word and PDF

    Communication by persons convicted of heroin trafficking alleged deficiencies in trial. Communication found unsubstantiated.

  • Rogerson v Australia (2002) 

    Two year delay in determination of contempt charges found to violate article 14(3); complaint rejected in other respects

     
  • Dudko v Australia 2007 (PDF) or Word: views of the Human Rights Committee; see also Government response (PDF) or Word  

    The Committee regarded allowing the prosecution to appear at an oral hearing on appeal without allowing participation by the convicted prisoner breached the right to be tried in one's presence. The Government did not specifically accept the Committee's views but informed the Committee of changed arrangements and rules to reduce the likellihood of similar occurrences in future.

Further information