Chapter 7 • The Right to a Fair Trial: Part II – From Trial to Final Judgement As a minimum, every person charged with a criminal offence has the right to public proceedings in the court of first instance and at all levels of appeal proceedings if the appeal concerns an assessment of both facts and law including the question of guilt. A judgement in a criminal case must be made public except in exceptional circumstances. At the appeal stage, the duty to make a public pronouncement of judgements may in some cases be satisfied by making the relevant judgements available to the public at the court registry (Europe). 3.4 The right to be tried “without undue delay” or “within a reasonable time” According to article 14(3)(c) of the International Covenant and articles 20(4)(c) and 21(4)(c) of the respective Statutes of the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, every person facing a criminal charge shall have the right “to be tried without undue delay” (emphasis added). In the words of article 7(1)(d) of the African Charter, article 8(1) of the American Convention and article 6(1) of the European Convention, everyone has the right to be heard “within a reasonable time” (emphasis added). ***** What it means to be tried “without undue delay”: In General Comment No. 13, the Human Rights Committee stated that the right to be tried without undue delay is a guarantee that “relates not only to the time by which a trial should commence, but also the time by which it should end and judgement be rendered; all stages must take place ‘without undue delay’. To make this right effective, a procedure must be available in order to ensure that the trial will proceed ‘without undue delay’, both in first instance and on appeal.”60 This view has been further emphasized in the Committee’s jurisprudence, according to which article 14(3)(c) and (5) “are to be read together, so that the right to review of conviction and sentence must be made available without delay”.61 It is noteworthy that the Committee has also made it clear that “the difficult economic situation” of a State party is not an excuse for not complying with the Covenant, and it has emphasized in this respect “that the rights set forth in the Covenant constitute minimum standards which all States parties have agreed to observe”.62 60 United Nations Compilation of General Comments, p. 124, para. 10; emphasis added. 61 Communications Nos. 210/1986 and 225/1987, E. Pratt and I. Morgan v. Jamaica (Views adopted on 6 April 1989), in UN doc. GAOR, A/44/40, p. 229, para. 13.3. 62 Communication No. 390/1990, B. Lubuto v. Zambia (Views adopted on 31 October 1995), in UN doc. GAOR, A/51/40 (vol. II), p. 14, para. 7.3. Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers 267