Section IV:
The right to grantees of a fair trial
1- The right to a fair trial is considered one of the standards of international human rights law, given
that it aims to protect persons from a diminution of their rights related to their legal positions before
the judicial authority since the moment of their arrest, and during their detention before and during
trial, until the final stages of the trial, namely appeal and cassation, and it would not be possible to
consider the trial to be fair, unless two conditions at least are met, first: for the trial procedures to
take place in their entirety from beginning to end in accordance with the Constitution and the local
legislation regulating judicial activity, and international conventions, and secondly: the judicial
authority that is independent and neutral shall apply those procedures governing the trial.
2- The Constitution of the Kingdom of Bahrain guarantees this right in Article Number (20) thereof,
which refers to a set of guarantees insofar as a fair trial, where the principle is enshrined that there is
no crime or punishment except based on the law, and not to prescribe punitive action for actions that
took place prior to the criminalizing law coming into force, as well as emphasizing that innocence
is presumed until there guilt is proven in a legal trial providing all the necessary guarantees for
exercising the right to defense in all the stages, in addition to prohibiting torture material or moral.
اﻟﺘﻘﺮﻳﺮ اﻟﺴﻨﻮي اﻟﺜﺎﻟﺚ
ﻟﻠﻤﺆﺳﺴﺔ اﻟﻮﻃﻨﻴﺔ ﻟﺤﻘﻮق اﻧﺴﻨﺎم
ـ ﻣﻤﻠﻜﺔ اﻟﺒﺤﺮﻳﻦ2015 ﻟﻌﺎم
3- The Criminal Procedures Code issued by legislative decree Number (46) for 2002 as amended
includes a constellation of procedures and restrictions constituting an integrated legal framework
for protecting the right of a person to enjoy guarantees of a fair trial, starting with the stage of arrest
and the gathering of evidence, passing by the stage of preliminary investigation, and culminating
with the trial stage.
4- At the level of international conventions, the right to guarantees for a fair trial has created a
framework of protection in Article (14) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR) to which the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain acceded pursuant to Law Number
(56) for the year 2006, where it provided for a set of guarantees which almost encompass all the
stages of the trial.
5- In addition to this are the conventions ratified by the Kingdom of Bahrain which addressed those
guarantees such as the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment to which the Kingdom acceded pursuant to legislative decree Number
(4) for the year 1998, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child to which it acceded by virtue
of legislative decree Number (16) for the year 1991, and the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) to which it acceded pursuant to legislative decree Number
(8) for the year 1990, and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against
Women (CEDAW) to which it acceded pursuant to Law Number (15) for the year 2010.
6- Within this framework, and in view of the extreme importance of enjoying guarantees for a fair trial
which directly affect the enjoyment by individuals of their rights and freedoms, this section will
treat some of the rights intertwined with the right to guarantees of a fair trial, based on what the
NIHR received in complaints and assistance requests or what it monitored from the media and the
social media.
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