Book Description

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights have established the right to a fair trial as an internationally recognized human rights norm. This volume examines the origins of the right to a fair trial as articulated in the Universal Declaration and the Covenant. The right to a fair trial has been the subject of more interpretation and adjudication than other rights in the Covenant. Accordingly, the book analyzes the fair trial jurisprudence of the Human Rights Committee under the Covenant. The book also explores the process by which some aspects of the right to a fair trial have gradually been considered non-derogable, that is, not subject to suspension even in times of public emergency. This volume should provide a convenient tool for human rights advocates, judges, lawyers, scholars, and others involved with and interested in the right to a fair trial. This book is the first volume in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Series. The Series will consist of approximately 20 volumes, each dealing with a substantive right (or group of rights) set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Each volume is authored by an expert in human rights generally and in the particular subject addressed. Without losing sight of the political context in which the implementation of human rights must occur, each book provides a comprehensive, legally-oriented analysis of the rights concerned, including an examination of the legislative history of the text of each right as adopted in 1948, the right's subsequent articulation and interpretation by international bodies and in subsequent international instruments, and a survey of state practice in defining and enforcing the right.