The Right to Defence, an Indispensable Right for the Rule of Law
The Right to Defence, an Indispensable Right for the Rule of Law

Author(s): Carmen Silvia Paraschiv
Subject(s): Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Sociology of Law, Court case, Roman law
Published by: ADJURIS – International Academic Publisher
Keywords: right to defense; fair trial; right to information; presumption of innocence; procedural guarantees;
Summary/Abstract: The right to defense is a principle enshrined since Roman law, being considered a minimum requirement and a necessary guarantee to realize the defense of the fundamental rights and freedoms of any party in a process. According to Roman law2 , the advocatus (lawyer) "was not a representative in court, because he did not participate in the process in place of the party, but alongside the party supporting it through the legal knowledge he had. The lawyers' services were free. Women could not practice law." At the same time, referring to the application of the right to defense in Romanian law, "the trial took place in a building, in the presence of the magistrate, the parties, the lawyers and some court officials."3 We thus observe the importance of this principle since ancient times, no person could be tried without the presence of a defender, not even the slave. The study aims to carry out a detailed analysis, both from a theoretical and a practical point of view, of the right to defence, based on the implications of domestic law, but also the provisions of international treaties on human rights and the jurisprudence of the ECHR.

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