Why is the Right to a Fair Trial so Important?

Many people don’t realize the importance of getting a fair trial, but the right to a fair trial is something that every country that respects the rule of law abides by. It is deemed as a basic human right, and many laws and mechanisms are in place to make sure that those who are accused of crimes or infractions of the law are provided with a fair trial.

Most criminal courts use a jury to determine the guilt or innocence of the accused, and then the judge is the one who will decide on the punishment if the luminess air person is found guilty. However, things were not always like this. In the past, those who were accused would often be executed just on suspicion of guilt, or be made to go through horrible ordeals to determine whether God would do a miracle on their behalf because they were innocent, or if they would die during the ordeal.

Even more recently are the instances of lynch mobs hanging suspects, without even proving their guilt. It seems that the way was to execute the person first and then (maybe) ask questions later. There are still courts around the world that deny the accused a fair trial, and base their judgments on bias and questionable evidence. However, there are many human rights activist who are fighting these types of trials, and awareness of the problem has increased in recent years.

There are other rights that necessarily go along with the right to a fair trial. Here are few of them:

- The right to a public hearing

This right ensures that there are no secret trials that are free from public scrutiny.

-    The right to be heard by an independent, impartial, and competent tribunal

This right ensures that there will be no bias or tainting of the court’s decision.

-          The right to interpretation

This ensures that those who are on trial in a country that is not their own will be given the interpretation that they need in order to defend themselves.

-    The right to counsel

This ensures that the accused is provided with legal counsel, whether they can afford a lawyer or not.

-          The right to be heard within a reasonable time frame

This ensures that a person does not wait in jail for a trial date that could be years in the future and meanwhile they are serving time for a crime that they may or may not have committed.

These basic rights ensure that all those that are accused of a crime or infraction of the law are provided with a fair and unbiased trial. Any denial of these rights is grounds for a retrial or even an acquittal of the accused was found guilty. Although our justice system is imperfect and sometimes there is no way to prove or disprove the guilt or innocence of a person accused of a crime, these rules at least help to provide everyone with the fairest possible trial available, and help to eliminate any sort of injustice in the court system.