International Criminal Justice Standards - Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, International Covenant On Civil And Political Rights, International Convention On The Elimination Of All Forms Of Racial Discrimination
law comparative enforcement trial
International criminal justice standards, including principally the right to a fair trial, have been defined and guaranteed by no less than twenty global and regional human rights treaties and other instruments. The most important are (1) the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; (2) the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; (3) the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; and (4) the Convention on the Rights of the Child. International humanitarian law, codified in the four Geneva Conventions and two Additional Protocols, ensures the right to a fair trial and related criminal justice standards during periods of internal and international armed conflicts. There are several other treaty and nontreaty standards relating to the role of judges, prosecutors, and lawyers; the protection of detainees/prisoners, juvenile offenders, persons facing the death penalty; and providing safeguards against disappearances and torture. Regional treaties such as the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights, and the [European] Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms contain fair trial guarantees and other provisions relevant to criminal justice. The most visible and recent elaboration of the right to a fair trial has been in the context of the ad hoc tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda as well as the statute for the new permanent International Criminal Court.
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In 1948 the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Universal Declaration), which provides a worldwide definition of the human rights obligations undertaken by all U.N. member states pursuant to Articles 55 and 56 of the U.N. Charter, including several provisions relating to the administration of justice. For example, Article 10 of the Universal Declaration states,…
Following the adoption of the Universal Declaration, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights drafted the International Bill of Human Rights, which includes the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Civil and Political Covenant). The Civil and Political Covenant entered into force 23 March 1976 as a multilateral treaty (ratified by 144 countries as of 1 November 2000) and establishes an…
The Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Race Convention) entered into force on 12 March 1969, and had been ratified by 156 countries as of 15 November 2000. The preamble proclaims that "all human beings are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law." This principle of equality before the law is rep…
The Convention on the Right of the Child entered into force on 2 September 1990, and had been ratified by 191 countries as of 1 November 2000, that is, nearly every county of the world, except Somalia and the United States. The Child Convention elaborates on the rights of juvenile offenders in the Civil and Political Covenant and other treaties. Articles 12, 37, and 40 are the primary provisions i…
Common Article 3 of the four Geneva Conventions for the protection of victims of armed conflict (entered into force 21 October 1950, ratified by 188 countries as of 1 November 2000) and Article 6 of Additional Protocol II (entered into force 7 December 1978, ratified by 150 countries as of 1 November 2000) contain fair trial guarantees and other provisions relevant to the administration of justice…
There are several other global non-treaty standards that relate to criminal justice, including Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary; Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers; Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners; Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials; Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention…
European Convention on Human Rights. The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (European Convention on Human Rights or European Convention) entered into force on 3 September 1953, and has been ratified by all forty-one member counties of the Council of Europe. Provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights have enjoyed a very high degree of compliance—…
The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights entered into force 21 October 1986, and as of 15 December 1999 had been ratified by all forty-nine African countries except the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Article 7 of the African Charter guarantees several fair trial rights, including notification of charges, appearance before a judicial officer, right to release pending trial, presum…
The American Convention on Human Rights (American Convention) entered in force on 18 July 1978, and as of 15 December 1999 had been ratified by all twenty-four states in the Western Hemisphere. Article 7 of the American Convention provides several criminal justice guarantees, including, for example, the right to notice and to habeas corpus. Article 8 deals with the right to a fair trial in a detai…
On 25 May 1993, the United Nations Security Council adopted resolution 827 (1993) in which it approved the establishment of "an international tribunal for the sole purpose of prosecuting persons responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia" after 1 January 1991. Article 15 of the Statute of the International …
Based upon the precedents of the Nuremberg Tribunal established by the London Agreement of 1945, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (Tokyo Tribunal) established in 1946, trials in Germany under Control Council Law No. 10 (1946), the Yugoslav Tribunal established in 1993, and the Rwanda Tribunal of 1994, a diplomatic conference in Rome adopted a statute of 17 July 1998 for a perma…
Amnesty International. Fair Trials Manual. London: Amnesty International Publications, 1998. ——. The Right to a Fair Trial: Current Recognition and Measures Necessary for its Strengthening, Second Report Prepared by Mr. Stanislav Chernichencko and Mr. William Treat in Accordance with
Resolution 1990/18 of the Sub-Commission and Resolution 1991/43 of the Commission on Human Rights.…
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