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Legal Digest of International Fair Trial Rights
Article 6 of the ECHR
“(1) In the determination of his civil rights and obligations or of any criminal charge against
him, everyone is entitled to a fair… hearing…
“(3) Everyone charged with a criminal offence has the following minimum rights:
“(a) to be informed promptly, in a language which he understands and in detail, of the nature
and cause of the accusation against him;
“(b) to have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defence;
“(c) To defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choosing or, if he
has not sufficient means to pay for legal assistance, to be given it free when the interests of
justice so require;
“(d) To examine or have examined witnesses against him and to obtain the attendance and
examination of witnesses on his behalf under the same conditions as witnesses against him;
“(e) To have the free assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand or speak the language used in court.”
OSCE Commitments
(5) The participating States solemnly declare that among those elements of justice which are
essential to the full expression of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights
of all human beings are the following:
(5.16) – in the determination of any criminal charge against him, or of his rights and obligations in a suit at law, everyone will be entitled to a fair … hearing …
Document of the Copenhagen Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension
of the CSCE, Copenhagen 1990, para 5.
Applicable to both criminal and non-criminal proceedings is the entitlement of every person, under Article 14(1) of the ICCPR and Article 6(1) of the ECHR, to a “fair hearing”.429
OSCE participating States have referred to the right to a fair hearing as being part of those
elements of justice that are essential to the full expression of the inherent dignity and of the
429 Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the UN General Assembly
under its resolution 217 (III) of 10 December 1948, also guarantees that: “Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights
and obligations and of any criminal charge against him”.
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