On 21 August 2007, the UN Human Rights Committee released General Comment No 32 on the right to equality before courts and tribunals and to a fair trial under art 14 of the ICCPR.
General Comment No 32 will be an important source of guidance on the interpretation and application of s 24 of the Victorian Charter of Human Rights, which enshrines the right to a fair hearing, and s 25, which guarantees various rights in criminal proceedings.
The Centre is pleased and proud that the General Comment incorporates a number of recommendations made in the Centre’s submission on the draft General Comment in January 2007.
Specifically, consistently with the Centre’s recommendations, General Comment No 32 provides that:
- The right of access to courts and tribunals and equality before them is not limited to citizens of States parties, but must also be available to all individuals, regardless of nationality or statelessness, or whatever their status, whether asylum seekers, refugees, migrant workers, unaccompanied children or other persons, who may find themselves in the territory or subject to the jurisdiction of the State party. [GC para 9, HRLRC submission paras 11.1-11.4]
- The principle of equality between parties applies also to civil proceedings, and demands, inter alia, that each side be given the opportunity to contest all the arguments and evidence adduced by the other party. [GC para 13, HRLRC submission paras 5.1-5.2]
- In exceptional cases, equality between parties might require that the free assistance of an interpreter be provided where otherwise an indigent party could not participate in the proceedings on equal terms or witnesses produced by it be examined. [GC para 13, HRLRC submission paras 8.1-8.2]
- Where delays in legal proceedings are caused by a lack of resources and chronic under-funding, to the extent possible supplementary budgetary resources should be allocated for the administration of justice. [GC para 27, HRLRC submission para 6.3]
