Chapter 6 • The Right to a Fair Trial: Part I – From Investigation to Trial The principle of equality before the courts means in the first place that, regardless of one’s gender, race, origin or financial status, for instance, every person appearing before a court has the right not to be discriminated against either in the course of the proceedings or in the way the law is applied to the person concerned. Further, whether individuals are suspected of a minor offence or a serious crime, the rights have to be equally secured to everyone. Secondly, the principle of equality means that all persons must have equal access to the courts. Equal access to courts: The Oló Bahamonde case The principle of equality was to the fore in the case of Oló Bahamonde examined under article 14(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, where the author complained that he had unsuccessfully tried to obtain redress before the domestic courts for the alleged persecution to which he was subjected by governmental authorities. The Committee observed in this respect “... that the notion of equality before the courts and tribunals encompasses the very access to the courts, and that a situation in which an individual’s attempts to seize the competent jurisdictions of his/her grievances are systematically frustrated runs counter to the guarantees of article 14, paragraph 1”.5 Equal access to courts by women: Another essential aspect of the right to equality is that women must have equal access to courts in order to be able effectively to claim their rights. Two important cases illustrate this basic rule well. In the first, where a women was not entitled to sue the tenants of two apartment buildings that she owned, the Human Rights Committee found that there was a violation of articles 3, 14(1) and 26 of the Covenant. According to the Peruvian Civil Code only the husband, not the married woman, was entitled to represent matrimonial property before the courts, a state of affairs that is contrary to international human rights law.6 In the second, where prohibitive costs of litigation prevented a woman from gaining access to a court in order to request a judicial separation from her husband, and where there was no legal aid available for these complex proceedings, the European Court of Human Rights found a violation of article 6(1) of the European Convention.7 While women’s right of access to the courts will be dealt with more fully in Chapter 11 below, these examples show the breadth of the protection afforded by the principle of equality. 5 Communication No. 468/1991, A. N. Oló Bahamonde v. Equatorial Guinea (Views adopted on 20 October 1993), UN doc. GAOR, A/49/40 (vol. II), p. 187, para. 9.4. 6 Communication No. 202/1986, G. Ato del Avellanal v. Peru (Views adopted on 28 October 1988), UN doc. GAOR, A/44/40, pp. 198-199, paras. 10.1-12. 7 Eur. Court HR, Airey Case v. Ireland, judgment of 9 October 1979, Series A, No. 32, pp. 11-16, paras. 20-28. 218 Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers