International Law: The - Right to Public Trials - May 2022

The right to a public trial is enshrined in Articles 10 and 11(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which proclaim: “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” and: “Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presume. [...] Quite separately from the question of the public nature of a trial, Article 14(1) of the ICCPR provides that the final decision should always be made public “except where the interest of juvenile persons otherwise requires or the proceedings concern matrimonial disputes or the The Centre for Law and Democracy is a non-profit human rights organisation working internationally to provide legal expert. [...] Exceptions to the Right to a Public Trial Article 14(1) of the ICCPR indicates that the right to a public trial is not absolute and can be restricted in certain exceptional circumstances: The press and the public may be excluded from all or part of a trial for reasons of morals, public order (ordre public) or national security in a democratic society, or when the interest of the private lives of t. [...] Any decision to limit the right to a public trial must be exceptional in nature, as opposed to being a routine measure, and be justified by specific exceptional circumstances relating to the trial in question, which fall within the scope of the legitimate interests listed in Article 14(1) of the ICCPR. [...] • Violations of the right to “examine, or have examined, the witnesses against him and to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on his behalf under the same conditions as the witnesses against him”, as protected by Article 14(3)(e) of the ICCPR, are also far more common in the context of secret trials.