International Criminal Justice Standards

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.