The Truth Can Cost Too Much: The Principle of a Fair Trial

Abstract

The principle of a fair trial permeates the common law in both civil and criminal contexts. The principle is regularly applied in determining stays of proceedings, matters of trial procedure, the exclusion of evidence and the formulation of directions to juries. These applications commonly involve the judicial balancing of competing interests, for example, in the criminal context, the interest of the accused, and the public, in a fair trial must sometimes be weighed against the public interest in the prosecution of persons who commit offences. A similar process is evident in the United Kingdom where the right to a fair trial under Art 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights is given force by the Human Rights Act 1998. By reason of the common areas of content and application of the principle or right of a fair trial, the case law of the United Kingdom remains significant for developments in Australian law in this field.