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 opin
ion of the court in special circumstances where publicity would prejudice the interests
of justice; but any judgement 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 pre
sumed innocent until proved guilty according to law.
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United Nations — Treaty Series • Nations Unies — Recueil des Traités______177
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 defence 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 as
sistance 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 at
tendance and examination of witnesses on his behalf under the same conditions
as witnesses against him;
(/) 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 ac
count of their age and the desirability of promoting their rehabilitation.
5.
Everyone convicted of a crime shall have the right to his conviction and sen
tence 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.
Official text
Spot-checked
In force from 16 December 1966
Source page 6