The Right to a fair trial is an essential right in all countries respecting the rule of law. It is explicitly proclaimed in the Sixth Amendment of the US Constitution, Article Ten of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article Six of the European Convention of Human Rights, as well as numerous other constitutions and declarations throughout the world. The rule of law implies that government authority may only be exercised in accordance with written laws, which were adopted through an established procedure. ... Jump to: navigation, search Amendment VI (the Sixth Amendment) of the United States Constitution guarantees rights related to criminal prosecutions in federal courts. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (also UDHR) is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (A/RES/217, December 10, 1948), outlining a view on basic human rights. ... The European Convention on Human Rights (1950) was adopted under the auspices of the Council of Europe† to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms. ...

The essential ingredients for a fair and just civil trial must include a competent, neutral and detached judge (an independent judge); the absence of any intimidation of witnesses and ideally, an equal weight of arms i.e. a level playing field in terms of legal representation. Jump to: navigation, search A judge or justice is an official who presides over a court. ...

Divergent approaches

These are general principle, and, understandably, there exist divergent approaches and appreciation to what constitutes a fair trial. Proponents of both major classes of systems of criminal procedure (the adversarial system and the inquisitorial system) allege that their system offers defendent a fairer trial than the other system. There may be differences on points of procedures: for instance, some jurisdictions, in certain circumstances, allow trials of defendants in their absence (in absentia) while some other jurisdictions consider that a trial can only be fair if the defendant has attended it. Criminal procedure refers to the legal process for adjudicating claims that someone has violated the criminal law. ... Jump to: navigation, search The adversarial system (or adversary system) of law is the system of law, generally adopted in common law countries, that relies on the skill of the different advocates representing their partys positions and not on some neutral party, usually the judge, trying to ascertain the... An inquisitorial system is a legal system where the court or a part of the court is actively involved in determining the facts of the case, as opposed to an adversarial system where the role of the court is solely that of an impartial referee between parties. ...

In cases of extradition, the extraditing country generally requires that the country requesting extradition offers the defendant a fair trial. In some cases, this has led to some procedural defenses by defendants who alleged that their trial would not be fair according to the rules of the extraditing country. As an example, murderer Ira Einhorn waged a legal battle against his extradition from France to the Pennsylvania on grounds that his trial occurred in absentia and rendered a final judgment. Extradition is a formal process by which a criminal suspect held by one government is handed over to another government for trial or, if the suspect has already been tried and found guilty, to serve his or her sentence. ... In jurisprudence, procedural defenses are a form of defense, via which a defendant may argue that they should not be held criminally liable for breaking the law, as the criminal justice program violated procedural law as it was creating its case, and trial, against said defendant. ... Jump to: navigation, search Ira Samuel Einhorn (born May 15, 1940) was an activist in the 1960s and 1970s who is now serving a life sentence for the murder of Holly Maddux in 1977. ... Jump to: navigation, search State nickname: The Keystone State Other U.S. States Capital Harrisburg Largest city Philadelphia Governor Ed Rendell (D) Senators Arlen Specter (R) Rick Santorum (R) Official languages None Area 119,283 km² (33rd)  - Land 116,074 km²  - Water 3,208 km² (2. ...

Other (historical) divergences are stated below.

Ingredients of a fair trial

Right to counsel

Nowadays, it is generally believed that a fair trial includes the possibility for the defendant to be assisted by counsel (i.e. lawyers), and that if he cannot afford having his own lawyer, the government should appoint one for him, or pay his lawyer expenses. However, this has not historically always been the case: Jump to: navigation, search A lawyer is a person licensed by the state to advise clients in legal matters and represent them in courts of law and in other forms of dispute resolution. ...

• Before the Prisoners' Counsel Act (1836), felony defendants did not have the possibility of having a counsel in British courts. It was thought, at the time, that counsels would serve no purpose in criminal proceedings, where what matters is deciding fact: the defendant should simply tell the truth to the court, without the interference of some counsel.
• In the United States, while the right to counsel in trials by the federal government was recognized by the US Bill of Rights, the affirmation that this right extended to cases tried by state courts (i.e. most criminal trials, including for crimes such as murder in most cases) came much later. While some state supreme courts affirmed this right during the 19th century, it was only in 1963 that the US Supreme Court affirmed the right for defendants to have counsel in trials for serious crimes.

On the other hand, some other countries had adopted the right to counsel earlier on. For instance, the Napoleonic Code of Criminal Instruction, adopted in France in 1808 and inspiring many similar codes in civil law countries, made it compulsory that the defendant should have a lawyer when tried in the assize courts (which judged severe crimes). 1836 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... United States Bill of Rights The Bill of Rights is the name given to the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. ... Jump to: navigation, search The original Napoleonic Code, or Code Napoléon (originally called the Code civil des français, or civil code of the French), was the French civil code, established at the behest of Napoléon. ... 1808 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search Civil law is a legal system derived from Roman law and commonly used in Europe. ... The Courts of Assize, or Assizes, were periodic criminal courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the Quarter Sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. ...