Right to a Fair Trial
edited by

Professor Rudiger Wolfrum
Professor David Weissbrodt
(with the assistance of Maureen Convery)

Preface

This collection of essays arose from the International Symposium on the Right to a Fair Trial, which was held January 31 - February 3, 1996, at the Max Planck Institute of Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg, Germany. The symposium was inspired by the study on the right to a fair trial of the U.N. Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities.

The symposium brought together lawyers, judges, and scholars from nations with different approaches to the right to fair trial, for example, the civil law and common law countries. From the common law countries there were presentations on the trial procedures of Canada, England and Wales, India, Israel, Malaysia, South Africa, Uganda, and the United States. The present collection also includes contributions from civil law countries in their several variations: Brazil, China, Denmark, Germany, Mexico, Morocco, Norway, Poland, Senegal, Spain, and Tunisia. In addition, there is chapter on the trial procedures of Islamic countries.

Furthermore, this volume contains chapters on the fair trial principles and jurisprudence of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights, the Inter-American system for the protection of human rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The book contains four cross-cutting comparative pieces on some of the major issues which arise in a study of the right to a fair trial, including the protection of individuals in pre-trial procedures, the right of the accused to be tried in his or her presence, the independence and impartiality of judges, and the derogability of the right to a fair trial.

This collection of essays reflects a comparative look at the right to a fair trial from a human rights perspective. The book demonstrates that the diversity among these different legal systems belies the simple categorization of countries into common law, civil law, and Islamic legal systems. At the same time each of the national legal systems grapple with nearly identical issues. The various chapters show the unifying influence of international human rights norms to which many countries have now adhered.

The book also may be useful in the negotiations towards establishing an international criminal court. In the process of developing that court, several issues have arisen as to what fair trial protections will be provided. The chapters of this book give an insight into the international human rights law and national law approaches to those significant issues.

This book benefitted greatly from the editing of Ms. Maureen Convery and from the organizational efforts of Mr. Rainer Grote.

The Heidelberg Symposium and this book would not have been possible without the generous support of the Ford Foundation.

Professor Rudiger Wolfrum
Professor David Weissbrodt