The International
Covenant for Civil and Political Rights lays out international standards of
due process. These include:
Article 9
1. Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be
subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be deprived of his
liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedure as are
established by law.
2. Anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons
for his arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against him.
3. Anyone arrested or detained on a criminal charge shall be brought promptly
before a judge or other officer authorized by law to exercise judicial power
and shall be entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release. It shall
not be the general rule that persons awaiting trial shall be detained in custody,
but release may be subject to guarantees to appear for trial, at any other stage
of the judicial proceedings, and, should occasion arise, for execution of the
judgment.
4. Anyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention shall be entitled
to take proceedings before a court, in order that court may decide without delay
on the lawfulness of his detention and order his release if the detention is
not lawful.
5. Anyone who has been the victim of unlawful arrest or detention shall have
an enforceable right to compensation.
Article 14
1. All persons shall be equal before the courts and tribunals. In the determination
of any criminal charge against him, or of his rights and obligations in a suit
at law, everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent,
independent, and impartial tribunal established by law. 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 the parties so requires, or to the extent strictly necessary
in the opinion of the court in special circumstances where publicity would prejudice
the interests of justice; but any judgment rendered in a criminal case or in
a suit at law shall be made public except where the interest of juvenile persons
otherwise requires or the proceedings concern matrimonial disputes or the guardianship
of children.
2. Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall have the right to be presumed
innocent until proved guilty according to law.
3. In the determination of any criminal charge against him, everyone shall be
entitled to the following minimum guarantees, in full equality:
(a) To be informed promptly and in detail in a language which he understands
of the nature and cause of the charge against him;
(b) To have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defense
and to communicate with counsel of his own choosing;
(c) To be tried without undue delay;
(d) To be tried in his presence, and to defend himself in person or through
legal assistance of his own choosing; to be informed, if he does not have legal
assistance, of this right; and to have legal assistance assigned to him, in
any case where the interests of justice so require, and without payment by him
in any such case if he does not have sufficient means to pay for it;
(e) 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 witnesses against him;
(f) To have the free assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand or
speak the language used in court;
(g) Not to be compelled to testify against himself or to confess guilt.
4. In the case of juvenile persons, the procedure shall be such as will take
account of their age and the desirability of promoting their rehabilitation.
5. Everyone convicted of a crime shall have the right to his conviction and
sentence being reviewed by a higher tribunal according to law.
6. When a person has by a final decision been convicted of a criminal offence
and when subsequently his conviction has been reversed or he has been pardoned
on the ground that a new or newly discovered fact shows conclusively that there
has been a miscarriage of justice, the person who has suffered punishment as
a result of such conviction shall be compensated according to law, unless it
is proved that the non-disclosure of the unknown fact in time is wholly or partly
attributable to him.
7. No one shall be liable to be tried or punished again for an offence for which
he has already been finally convicted or acquitted in accordance with the law
and penal procedure of each country.
Article 15
1. No one shall be held guilty of any criminal offence on account of any act
or omission which did not constitute a criminal offence, under national or international
law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed
than the one that was applicable at the time when the criminal offence was committed.
If, subsequent to the commission of the offence, provision is made by law for
the imposition of the lighter penalty, the offender shall benefit thereby.
2. Nothing in this article shall prejudice the trial and punishment of any person
for any act or omission which, at the time when it was committed, was criminal
according to the general principles of law recognized by the community of nations.