Chapter 6 • The Right to a Fair Trial: Part I – From Investigation to Trial counsel”.114 Where a British citizen tried in Norway had a Norwegian lawyer of his own choice, who had access to the entire file and who had moreover the assistance of an interpreter in his meetings with the author, neither the right to a fair trial in article 14(2) nor the right to have adequate facilities to prepare his defence as provided by article 14(3)(b) was violated. An additional factor in this case was that if the lawyer had considered that he had not enough time to familiarize himself with the file, he could have requested an adjournment, which he did not do.115 ***** Article 8(2)(c) of the American Convention on Human Rights was violated in the case of Castillo Petruzzi et al. where “the conditions under which the defence attorneys had to operate were wholly inadequate for a proper defence, as they did not have access to the case file until the day before the ruling of first instance was delivered”. In the view of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, “the effect was that the presence and participation of the defence attorneys were mere formalities”, and consequently, it could “hardly be argued that the victims had adequate means of defence”.116 An accused person must always have adequate time and facilities to prepare his or her defence, including effective access to documents and other evidence which are essential for his or her defence. Incommunicado detention interferes with the right to ensure an efficient defence and should be outlawed. 7. Concluding Remarks Without being exhaustive, this chapter has described some of the essential human rights that must be guaranteed during pre-trial investigation into criminal activities. These comprise a number of rights essential to preserving not only a suspect’s physical and mental integrity, but also his or her right to secure an effective defence throughout these early proceedings and subsequently during the trial itself. In order for these rights to be effectively realized, all legal professions, that is to say, judges, prosecutors and lawyers alike, have an essential role to play. The police and prosecutorial authorities have a professional duty under international law to protect these rights, as do the domestic judges, who must at all times be alert to any sign that such important rights as the right to freedom from torture, the right to effective access to legal counsel, the right not to be compelled to testify against oneself and the right to 114 Communication No. 526/1993, M. and B. Hill v. Spain (Views adopted on 2 April 1997), UN doc. GAOR, A/52/40 (vol. II), p. 18, para. 14.1; emphasis added. 115 Communication No. 451/1991, B. S. Harvard v. Norway (Views adopted on 15 July 1994), UN doc. GAOR, A/49/40 (vol. II), p. 154, para. 9.5. 116 I-A Court HR, Castillo Petruzzi et al. case v. Peru, judgment of May 30, 1999, Series C, No. 52, p. 202, para. 141. 248 Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers