Importance Of The Right To A Fair Trial

The right to a fair trial is one of the fundamental guarantees of human rights and the rule of law, targeted at ensuring the proper administration of justice. It is linked with numerous interrelated attributes such as the right to life and prohibition against torture and other forms of cruel and degrading treatment. All individuals must have equal rights of access to the courts. Justice need to be administered in a manner that achieves fairness to all, regardless of the identity of the parties of the proceedings. Criminal charges must be determined by a competent and impartial court

In the Darmalingum V State (1999) MR 186, the judicial committee made the following comments regarding Sect 10(1) of the constitution : " it will be observed that Sect 10(1)

This is incidentally not the case in France.

In Mohur v R (1990) MR 138, it was held that 4 elements which in Lord Templeman's view in Bell v DPP (1985) AC 937, a court should consider to determine whether a particular defendent has been deprived of his fundamental rights are namely :

• the length of the delay

• the reasons given by the prosecution to justify the delay

• the responsibility of the accused for asserting his rights and prejudice to the accused.

The court adduced that in United State, a judge of a higher court has an inherent power to decline to allow a prosecution to proceed if he is satisfied that it is oppressive and vexatious and an abuse of the process of the court. By virtue of section 17 of Courts Act, the judges of supreme court possess the same powers.

Nevertheless, justice does not always prevail through the proper administration of the provisions of the constitution. The question arises whether a prosecution which is initiated 18 years after the alleged commisssion of a crime by the reason of time lag and all its natural consequences of probable memory loss be struck down