HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE DISCUSSES REVISED GENERAL COMMENT ON RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL

Human Rights Committee

16 July 2007


The Human Rights Committee this morning undertook a second reading of its revised General Comment on article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on the right to a fair trial and equality before the courts and tribunals.

The revised General Comment, when adopted, will replace the General Comment on the article that was adopted in 1984, reflecting on and further developing it. The revised General Comment (CCPR/C/GC/32/CRP.1/Rev.5) notes that juveniles should enjoy the same guarantees and protection as adults but, in addition, needed special protection and that detention should be avoided to the extent possible. States should take measures to establish an appropriate juvenile criminal justice system and establish a minimum age below which children and juveniles should be presumed not to have the capacity to infringe the penal law. Whenever appropriate, measures other than criminal proceedings should be resorted to, in compatibility with the Covenant. Further, the revised comment notes the right to the review of someone’s conviction by a higher tribunal and that no one should be subjected to repeated punishment for the same offence.

Article 14 of the Covenant aims at ensuring the proper administration of justice, and to this end guarantees a series of specific rights, including that all persons shall be equal before the courts and tribunals; that in criminal or civil cases everyone has a right to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal; that everyone charged with a criminal offence shall have the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law; and that everyone convicted of a crime shall have the right to his conviction and sentence be reviewed by a higher tribunal according to law.

The Committee publishes its interpretation of the content of human rights provisions, known as General Comments, on thematic issues or its methods of work. To date, it has issued 31 General Comments. The general comments of all human rights treaty bodies are compiled annually in the document HRI/GEN/1/Rev.8 and Add.1.

Having discussed the wording of the revised General Comment on a paragraph-by-paragraph basis, the Committee will continue to discuss it in public on Thursday, 19 July at 10 a.m. When the Committee reconvenes in public this afternoon, it will start its consideration of the second periodic report of the Czech Republic (CCPR/C/CZE/2).

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