Targeted Sanctions and Due Process - United Nations Treaty ...

B. Fassbender, Targeted Sanctions and Due Process
48
______________________________________________________________________________________________
4. African [Banjul] Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (1981)
Article 6
Every individual shall have the right to liberty and to the security of his person. No one
may be deprived of his freedom except for reasons and conditions previously laid down by
law. In particular, no one may be arbitrarily arrested or detained.
Article 7
1. Every individual shall have the right to have his cause heard. This comprises:
(a) the right to an appeal to competent national organs against acts of violating his fundamental
rights as recognized and guaranteed by conventions, laws, regulations and customs
in force;
(b) the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty by a competent court or tribunal;
(c) the right to defence, including the right to be defended by counsel of his choice;
(d) the right to be tried within a reasonable time by an impartial court or tribunal.
See also: Resolution of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
on the Right of a Fair Trial (1992) 108
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
meeting in its Eleventh Ordinary Session, in Tunis, Tunisia, from 2 to 9 March
1992,
Conscious of the fact that the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights is designed
to promote and protect human rights in accordance with the provisions contained
in the Charter and recognized international human rights standards;
Recognizing that the right to a fair trial is essential for the protection of fundamental
human rights and freedoms;
Bearing in mind article 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ rights
[…]
2. Considers further that the right to fair trial includes, among other things, the following:
A. All persons shall have the right to have their cause heard and shall be equal before
the courts and tribunals in the determination of their rights and obligations;
[…]
D. Persons charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until proven
guilty by a competent court;
E. In the determination of charges against individuals, the individual shall be entitled
in particular to:
1) Have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of their defence and to
communicate in confidence with counsel of their choice;
2) Be tried within a reasonable time;
3) Examine or have examined the witnesses against them and to obtain the attendance
and examination of witnesses on their behalf under the same conditions as
witnesses against them;
108 Reprinted from: Louise Doswald-Beck & Robert Kolb, Judicial Process and Human Rights,
Kehl: N.P. Engel, 2004, p. 134.