Fair Trial Rights in ICCPR

Abstract

Articles 14 and 15 in ICCPR provide fair trial rights. The 16 concrete guarantees of fair trial rights are usually classified into three parts: basic rules, minimum guarantees and other provisions. A proceeding complying by those concrete guarantees can not necessarily accord with the requirement of fair trial rights, because article 14, paragraph 1 provides a special kind of right—the general right to a fair trial. Unlike the concrete guarantees, the general right to a fair trial requires to evaluate the proceedings as a whole. In the process of interpreting ICCPR, the Human Rights Committee has added more and more concrete guarantees to fair trial rights via the general right to a fair trial.