International and regional standards 116.  Given the fact that, in many countries, trial waivers account for the majority of convictions, it is astonishing that international standards have so little to say on such systems. Recognition of the application of fair trial standards to criminal proceedings, like trial waivers, that do not necessarily constitute a “trial” would also be in line with the broader recognition by international human rights bodies that the fairness of the “trial” is affected by earlier proceedings, and requires certain procedural safeguards in the post-arrest and pre-trial period.110 There is currently no specific articulation of how existing international and regional standards on the right to a fair trial apply to trial waiver systems. Within the provisions of major human rights treaties that protect the right to a fair trial – Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 6 of the ECHR, Article 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), and Article 8 of the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR) – only the last mentions something like trial waiver systems explicitly, as a component of the right to presumption of innocence. Article 8(2)(g) of the ACHR articulates “the right not to be compelled to be a witness against himself or to plead guilty”.111 No decisions by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), however, interpret that provision specifically in relation to trial waiver systems. 117. This silence of international and regional human rights instruments on the issue of trial waiver systems may be due to the fact that at the time they were drafted, full trials were the norm in most regions and jurisdictions. Recent developments suggest, however, that the tide is turning. 118. There have, for example, been recent efforts to promote trial waiver systems (for example, by Recommendation No. R(87)18 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe112 promoting measures to simplify criminal proceedings) but these have not given adequate consideration to the need for human rights safeguards. Recommendation No. R(87)18, for example, mentions only the need for the trial waiver system (which it calls a “guilty plea”) to be “carried out in a court at a public hearing”, and that “[t]here should be a positive response by the offender to the charge against him.” It does not mention, for example, any required procedural safeguards nor the kinds of cases to which such proceedings might be restricted. 119. The reduction in use of full trials also poses a problem for the law’s ability to remedy rights violations that occur during arrest, investigation and the pretrial period. In the context of a trial, the remedy for due process violations (including torture, abuse of process by police, and unlawful arrest, search and seizure) includes exclusion or special treatment of the tainted evidence obtained through unlawful means. Where there is no trial, such violations are likely to go unremedied and in some cases undiscovered, with a potentially serious impact on both individual victims of such abuses as well as the integrity of the criminal justice system as a whole. The U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture has recently indicated that national laws must take account of situations in which “evidence or information is obtained in violation of preventive safeguards and the accused takes a plea without trial.”113 110. I.e. Salduz v. Turkey, European Court of Human Rights, App No 36391/02 (Nov 27 2008), finding a violation of Article 6.3 ECHR (right to legal assistance) where the defendant was denied access to a lawyer during interrogation in the police station, even where he was later represented by a lawyer at trial. 111. Note that Article 14(3)(g) of the ICCPR similarly provides for the right not to testify against oneself or to “confess guilt” – neither “pleading guilty” nor “confessing guilt” necessarily relate directly to trial waivers, though they may be used as the basis for protections within trial waiver systems. 112. Recommendation No. R (87)18 of the Committee of Ministers, supra at n. 78. 113. “Interim report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”, United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), A/71/298 (Aug. 2016), para. 100. Available at: https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N16/250/31/PDF/N1625031.pdf?OpenElement. 62.