A Brief Comparison Between Both Regional Systems

Abstract

This chapter is not intended to provide a purely comparative analysis but to describe how the right to fair trial in non-criminal matters is understood in each regional system. Nevertheless, I think there are important findings to highlight by looking at both systems. The main finding is that there are differences in how each international tribunal conceives the requirements of due process over civil or non-criminal matters. By reading only the text of both clauses, article 8.1 of the American Convention and 6.1 of the European Convention, they might seem superfluous and slight differences. However, by studying how the case law had interpreted and applied them to different dimensions of the right to a fair trial and to specific procedural elements in each international tribunal, it is possible to identify results that differ and have important consequences. In fact, these differences, reflect different positions on the continuum created by applying my two models approach. In the first section I describe some of the similarities and differences I have found between both regional systems. In the following section, I provide some preliminary thoughts or explanations for these differences. In this regard, I will not try to identify causal relationships between these factors and my findings but to suggest some future research paths.