Chapter 7 • The Right to a Fair Trial: Part II – From Trial to Final Judgement entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law”(emphasis added). Although article 7(1) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights speaks only of a “competent” (art. 7(1)(b)) or “impartial” (art. 7(1)(d)) court or tribunal, article 26 of the Charter imposes a legal duty on the States parties also “to guarantee the independence of the Courts”. Article 8(1) of the American Convention refers to “a competent, independent, and impartial tribunal, previously established by law”, and article 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights to “an independent and impartial tribunal established by law”. Lastly, article 40 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court provides that “the judges shall be independent in the performance of their functions” and that they “shall not engage in any activity which is likely to interfere with their judicial functions or to affect confidence in their independence”. However, since the question of independence and impartiality of tribunals is considered in some depth in Chapter 4, it will not be further examined here. 3.2 The right to a fair hearing The notion of a “fair” hearing is contained both in article 14(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and in article 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights, while article 8(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights speaks of “due guarantees” (emphasis added). The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights provides no specification in this respect, but it should be pointed out that, according to article 60 of the Charter, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights “shall draw inspiration” from other international instruments for the protection of human and peoples’ rights, a provision that enables the Commission to be inspired, inter alia, by the provisions of article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights when interpreting the trial guarantees laid down in article 7 of the Charter. Articles 20(2) and 21(2) of the respective Statutes of the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia both provide that the accused shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing in the determination of charges against him or her, although with the proviso that the protection of victims and witnesses may require measures which “shall include, but shall not be limited to, the conduct of in camera proceedings and the protection of the victim’s identity” (arts. 21 and 22 of the respective Statutes). The rights of the accused as contained in these Statutes are heavily inspired by article 14 of the International Covenant. ***** 254 Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers