39 Chapter ii Rights of Access to Justice and Equality in the Administration of Justice Article 14(1) of the ICCPR “All persons shall be equal before the courts and tribunals. In the determination of any criminal charge against him, or of his rights and obligations in a suit at law, everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law…” Article 6(1) of the ECHR “In the determination of his civil rights and obligations or of any criminal charge against him, everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law…” Rights of access to justice and equality in the administration of justice lie at the heart of the rule of law. They demand that all persons have equal rights of access to the courts and that justice is administered in a way that achieves fairness for all, regardless of the identity of the parties to the proceedings or the nature of the proceedings themselves. The Human Rights Committee has referred to the right to equality before courts and tribunals, including equal access, as a “key element” of human rights protection and as a procedural means to safeguard the rule of law.111 The European Court of Human Rights has similarly expressed the right of access to court as essential “in view of the prominent place held in a democratic society by the right to a fair trial”.112 Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights speaks of the right of everyone to be entitled “in full equality” to a fair and public hearing. The right to equality before the court is also spelled out in Article 14(1) of the ICCPR, whereas the ECHR refers in Article 6 only to the general prohibition of discrimination and in the preamble of Protocol 12 to the fundamental principle of equality before the law. As for the right of access to court, both the ICCPR and ECHR imply this right from the overarching entitlement to a fair and public 111 UN Human Rights Committee, CCPR General Comment 32 (2007), para 2. 112 Steel and Morris v the United Kingdom [2005] ECHR 103, para 59.