Topics Trial in native language of accused

Constitute topics are built from the variables in the Comparative Constitutions Project’s dataset, which captures the content of world constitutions. The particular variables relevant to this topic are listed below, in the form of survey questions.

More information about the CCP’s research design is available here, including background information on how the team designed the inventory of constitutional topics as well as the full coding survey

Description

Grants individuals charged with an offense the right to have their trial conducted in a language they understand, or the right to have an interpreter. In some cases, this would include a right to be informed of the reasons for one’s arrest.

Categories

Culture and Identity; Rights and Duties

Keywords

accused; criminal procedure

Survey Questions

  • Does the constitution specify the trial has to be in a language the accused understands or the right to an interpreter if the accused cannot understand the language?