La igualdad de armas en la litigación internacional: Sinergias entre los tribunales internacionales penales y de derechos humanos

Resumen

EQUALITY OF ARMS IN INTERNATIONAL ADJUDICATION: SYNERGIES BETWEEN CRIMINAL AND HUMAN RIGHTS’ JURISDICTIONS Equality of arms is a fundamental element of the right to a fair trial in both domestic and international legal systems. However, due to the characteristics of international adjudication problems may arise in practice that may put the individual at a substantial disadvantage vis-à-vis the State or the Prosecutor. In this paper, we analyse the interpretation of this principle by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) as well as by the international criminal tribunals, i.e., the International Criminal Court (ICC), the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), and the current International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT). Two objectives are pursued: first, to identify the synergies between criminal and human rights’ jurisdictions around the interpretation of this principle; and second, to identify the challenges faced by the individual in international adjudication and the measures that can be taken to address them.