proceedings that guarantee full respect of the principles of equality before the law and courts, equal protection of the law and non-discrimination. II. FAIR TRIAL GUARANTEES IN PROCEEDINGS BEFORE MILITARY COMMISSIONS 332. Article 14 of the ICCPR provides that everyone is “equal before the courts and tribunals”, entitled to a public hearing before an independent and impartial tribunal, and entitled to minimum fair trial guarantees in any criminal case.767 Article 14 applies to all courts, “whether ordinary or specialized, civilian or military”.768 While some provisions of Article 14 of the ICCPR on the right to a fair trial may be derogated from during public emergencies, international bodies have stressed on several occasions that fundamental principles of a fair trial and non-derogable rights are not subject to any derogation.769 A. RIGHT TO A PUBLIC HEARING BEFORE TRIBUNAL ESTABLISHED BY LAW AN INDEPENDENT AND IMPARTIAL a. International Standards 333. Article 14(1) of the ICCPR states that in criminal proceedings “everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law”. A number of other international and regional instruments, including OSCE commitments, include similar provisions.770 This section of the report focuses on the right to be tried by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law, and the right to a public hearing. 334. As part of their OSCE commitments, participating States have agreed to pay particular attention to the Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary,771 which stipulate that “[e]veryone shall have the right to be tried by ordinary courts or tribunals using established legal procedures. Tribunals that do not use the duly established procedures of the legal process shall not be created to displace the jurisdiction belonging to the ordinary courts or judicial tribunals.”772 767 ICCPR, Art. 14. See, also, ACHR, Art. 8; UDHR, Arts. 10, 11; ADRDM, Art. XVIII; OSCE Vienna Document, op. cit., note 90, para. 13.9; OSCE Copenhagen Document, op. cit., note 80, paras. 5.16-5.19; OSCE Ljubljana Document, op. cit., note 90; OSCE, “Brussels Declaration on Criminal Justice Systems”, op. cit., note 550; OSCE Ministerial Council, Decision No. 7/08, “Further Strengthening the Rule of Law in the OSCE Area”, Helsinki, 5 December 2008 (hereinafter, “OSCE Helsinki 2008 Document”), para. 4, <http://www.osce.org/mc/35494?download=true>; Decaux Principles, op. cit., note 647, Principle 2. 768 ICCPR, Art. 14; UN HRC, General Comment No. 32, op. cit., note 648, para. 22. 769 Although Article 14 may be derogated from under Article 4 of the ICCPR, “a general reservation to the right to a fair trial” is not “acceptable”. UN HRC, General Comment No. 24, op. cit., note 287, para. 8; UN HRC, General Comment No. 29, op. cit., note 111, para. 16: “the principles of legality and the rule of law require that fundamental requirements of fair trial must be respected during a state of emergency”; UN, HRC, General Comment No. 32, op. cit., note 648, para. 5; Decaux Principles, op. cit., note 647, Principle 3. 770 See, for instance, ACHR, Art. 8; UDHR, Arts. 10-11; ADRDM, Art. XXVI. Relevant OSCE commitment include: OSCE Copenhagen Document, op. cit., note 80, paras. 5.12-5.13, 5.16; OSCE Moscow Document, op. cit., note 90, paras. 19.1-19.2; OSCE Helsinki 2008 Document, op. cit., note 767, para. 4. 771 OSCE Moscow Document, ibid., para. 19.2; “Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary”, Milan, 13 December 1985, <http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/IndependenceJudiciary.aspx>. 772 “Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary”, ibid., Principle 5. 146

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