Right to Fair Trial

Brahme Tannya,

Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur

ABSTRACT:

Right to fair trial focus on the importance of the fair trial and deals with the reason that why fair trial is important an furthermore it deals with the basic criteria for fair trial winding up with some of the impediments of fair trial present in the country. In spite of implementing the rights we are still far from being able to achieve those standards, but at least we, the inhabitants of planet earth, have agreed on our goals.

INTRODUCTION:

The right to a fair trial is a norm of international human rights law designed to protect individuals from the unlawful and arbitrary curtailment or deprivation of other basic rights and freedoms, the most prominent of which are the right to life and liberty of the person. It is guaranteed under Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which provides that “everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law.”

WHY FAIR TRIAL?

In order to understand the importance of Right to Fair Trial we must open our minds to the possibility of mistakes that we, with the powers of law at our hands could commit. This right not only helps to increase the trust over law but also proves the superiority of our democratic ideals over the ideology of terror.

By denying any militant a fair trial we corrupt our own police force which gets an exaggerated idea of its importance and instead of carrying out proper investigation it resorts to illegal means such as torture and even encounter killings. In fact the police force has been arresting hundreds of Muslim youth all over the country and in a majority of cases it has been found that there was no evidence against the youth. The most blatant cases have been the arrests in Hyderabad and the subsequent release of the young men. Similarly, many of those accused of being members of SIMI and jailed for years had to be acquitted because the prosecution could not prove its case. Once the police have been corrupted, then it treats all cases in the same way as we saw in the Arushi murder case.

When courts are used as a political arena they will inevitably undermine the entire criminal justice system and destroy the most important pillar of democracy. The beating up of an elderly lawyer, Noor Mohammad, in the district court by suspected members of the Bajrang Dal because he was representing someone accused of terrorist act was caught live on TV. The Bar Associations failed to condemn the act and instead Bar Associations all over the country have been passing resolutions forbidding their members from taking up cases of people accused of terrorist activity. By doing this they have undermined the principle of fair trial, the right of the accused to be presumed innocent and thus damaged the entire legal system.

BASIC FAIR TRIAL CRITERIA:

The standards against which a trial is to be assessed in terms of fairness are numerous, complex, and constantly evolving. They may constitute binding obligations that are included in human rights treaties to which the state is a party. But, they may also be found in documents which, though not formally binding, can be taken to express the direction in which the law is evolving. In order to avoid possible challenges to the legal nature of the standards employed in evaluating the fairness of a trial, monitors should refer to norms of undisputedly legal origin.

These are:

1. The laws of the country in which the trial is being held;

2. The human rights treaties to which that country is a party, and

3. Norms of customary international law.

Before observing a trial, a monitor should read relevant materials pertaining to domestic legislation. Due to the various legal systems and legal orders involved, as well as the differing stages of their development, it is not possible to devise a comprehensive list of essential texts. A minimum list would comprise:

1. A state's Constitution, especially its provisions on human rights and the judicial system;

2. Its Criminal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure; statutes on the establishment and jurisdiction of the courts and on the public prosecutor's office, and

3. Landmark court decisions pertaining to human rights, particularly in common law countries. The aim of an observer at this level of examination is to assess whether the applicable provisions of domestic law guaranteeing a fair trial have been implemented and, if so, to what extent. It is well known that while constitutions and statutes generally provide for some measure of fairness in criminal proceedings, implementation by the courts is often not adequate.

Before undertaking a trial observation mission, a monitor should find out to which human rights treaties the respective state is a party. The most important of these is the ICCPR, which contains several relevant articles in assessing the fairness of a trial.

IMPEDIMENTS:

Political corruption: The use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by private persons or corporations not directly involved with the government. An illegal act by an officeholder constitutes political corruption only if the act is directly related to their official duties. This stands as the biggest threat to a fair trial in a country like India.

Contempt of court is a court order which, in the context of a court trial or hearing, declares a person or organization to have disobeyed or been disrespectful of the court's authority. Often referred to simply as "contempt", such as a person "held in contempt", it is the judge’s strongest power to impose sanctions for acts which disrupt the court's normal process. A finding of contempt of court may result from a failure to obey a lawful order of a court, showing disrespect for the judge, disruption of the proceedings through poor behaviour, or publication of material deemed likely to jeopardize a fair trial. A judge may impose sanctions such as a fine or jail for someone found guilty of contempt of court. Judges in common law systems usually have more extensive power to declare someone in contempt than judges in civil law systems.

Witness intimidation: involves witness crucial to court proceedings being threatened in order to pressure or extort them not to testify. The refusal of key witnesses to testify commonly renders a case with inadequate physical evidence void in a court of law. This is a significant problem that has many lawmakers considering tough penalties for intimidating a witness; In situations where intimidation or retaliation against witnesses is likely (such as cases involving organized crime), witnesses may be placed in witness protection to prevent suspects or their colleagues intimidating them.

Other as such:

· A lack of legal counsel, or inequality of arms

· Undue delay in procedure

· Non-disclosure of evidence, through malice.

CONCLUSION:

The concepts of human rights and rule of law have been evolved after centuries and centuries of violence, wars, barbarity, dictatorships and authoritarian rule. The millions of continuous and unrelenting struggles for justice and democratic principles have contributed to the evolution of human rights standards which have been accepted across continents. Of course, we are still far from being able to achieve those standards, but at least we, the inhabitants of planet earth, have agreed on our goals. And now there is a very real possibility of these standards being set aside and even completely destroyed in the name of nationalism.

REFERENCES:

1. Doebbler, Curtis (2006). Introduction to International Human Rights Law. CD Publishing. pp. 108. ISBN 9780974357027.

2. Alfredsson, Gudmundur; Eide, Asbjorn (1999). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: a common standard of achievement. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. pp. 225. ISBN 9789041111685.

3. Universal declaration of Human Rights. United Nations.

4. Doebbler, Curtis (2006). Introduction to International Human Rights Law. CD Publishing. pp. 107. ISBN 9780974357027.

5. Alfredsson, Gudmundur; Eide, Asbjorn (1999). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: a common standard of achievement. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. pp. 225–226. ISBN 9789041111685.

6. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Received on 05.11.2011

Accepted on 08.11.2011