since 1948, has been reaffirmed in a set of legally binding treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1966. This right and other standards have also been recognized and provided for in many treaties that do not fall under the international and regional treaties adopted by the United Nations and regional and international governmental bodies. These standards have been designed to be applied in all judicial systems in the world and to take into account the enormous diversity of legal and judicial processes, since they state the minimum guarantees that all systems should provide. These international human rights standards represent, in terms of fair trials, a consensus reached by the nations of the world on the criteria for assessing the manner in which governments treat persons accused of crimes of any kind and with any motives. |