Dr. Al-Buainain: Publicity and substantiation are the two most important guarantees of fair trial

In a lecture at UoB, stressing fair trial as an index of human rights

No systematic beatings or torture against defendants in Bahrain

The Attorney-General, Dr. Ali Fadl al-Buainain, considered that the two most important pillars of a fair trial are public trial, and substantiation of actions, i.e. a stating the secondary factual reasons that led the judge to a decision, stressing that fair trial is an indication of the extent of states’ respect for human rights.

Dr. al-Buainain was speaking in a lecture organized by the College of Law at the University of Bahrain entitled “International standards and guarantees for fair trial”.

The Dean of the College of Law, Dr. Sabri Hamad Khater, started the meeting with a speech welcoming Dr. Al-Buainain and praising his support for the College of Law since its inception. Dr. Al-Buainain then began his speech by expressing his happiness to deliver the lecture at the National University, as he considers the College of Law one of the best, with a number of graduates who have held several positions in the Public Prosecution, and proved their capability and high efficiency.

During the lecture, the Attorney-General explained that fair trial comes in five levels of guarantees: relating to the trial, the accused, the judge, the ruling, and the penalty. He indicated that “the right to trial is one of the most important human rights. Every trial attests to the State’s commitment or lack of commitment to human rights”.

Defining the accused as “any person who is suspected of committing a criminal act and who faces a claim of responsibility for it and is subject to the procedures established by law, with the aim of examining these suspicions and valuing them, leading to the determination of innocence or conviction,” Dr. Al-Buainain stated that “the status of the accused is extinguished at the end of the criminal proceedings after the issuance of a final judgment or for any other reason of termination.”

He added that the accused has the right to a fair trial on the charge against him before an independent and impartial tribunal. The trial should be characterized by being public and oral, with the investigation procedures codified, and that the adversaries should face each other in equality before the courts, as well as that the trial should not be delayed without justification.

In addition, the Attorney-General mentioned the guarantees relating to the ruling which include substantiation of actions, responding to important requests in substantive rebuttals, the right to appeal sentences, as well as some of the guarantees of punishment that require the court to comply with the facts of the case before it in its discretion of the criminal penalty.

The Attorney-General replied to students’ questions at the end of the lecture. In a response regarding torture/beating inflicted on the accused, he said, “This kind of practice is criminalized by the law, but we are human beings; we make mistakes, and if they happen, they are limited and do not amount to systematic practices”. He added, “Bahrain has established a special investigation unit to receive this type of complaint. Several cases have been investigated and rulings have been made.”

The lecture, which was attended by the President of the University of Bahrain, Dr. Riyad Yousef Hamzah, attracted a large number of law students who filled the Zain Center for e-learning on campus.

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