The Honorable President D. Beinisch made similar statements in the Issacharov case, when she described the right to a fair trial as follows (ibid., at paragraph 66 of her judgment):
"A framework right with an open embroidery, whose name and precise content vary from one legal system to another, and even in the various international conventions... Defining the boundaries of the right to a fair criminal trial is a difficult and complex task, and must be done in view of all the principles and characteristics of the legal system in question.".
It is customary to include the right to a fair trial in criminal cases the right of a suspect or defendant to know why he was arrested and what he is accused of; the right to be represented by an attorney; the right to be present at his trial and the hearings in his case; The right to defend oneself in trial and to present relevant evidence, and the right to a public trial to be held before an independent and neutral court. The right to a fair trial in criminal law also includes the presumption of innocence, and in some legal systems the right to remain silent and the right to self-incrimination.
The right to a fair trial extends in criminal proceedings from the interrogation stage to the main proceeding (see the words of the Honorable President D. Beinisch inAdditional Criminal Hearing 5852/10 State of Israel v. Meir Shemesh [published in Nevo] (2012, hereinafter: the Shemesh case, at paragraph 14 of her judgment) according to which: "The defense given in the doctrine of judicial invalidation of the defendant's right to a fair criminal trial relates to all stages of the criminal proceeding, including the stage of the police investigation." At the interrogation stage, two conflicting values must be balanced. On the one hand, the desire to expose the truth and meet the public interest in detecting and preventing offenses, and on the other, the desire to protect the human dignity and liberty of the interrogee (see, among many, the words of the Honorable Justice H. Cohen inCriminal Appeal 183/78 Abu Midjam v. State of Israel, IsrSC 34 (4) 533,546 (1980)); The words of President A. Barak in the High Court of Justice case 5100/94 The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel v. Government of Israel, IsrSC 35 (4) 817, 835 and the words of the Honorable Justice Y. Danziger in Criminal Appeal 4988/08 Eitan Farhi v. State of Israel [published in Nevo] (2011, hereinafter: the Farhi case, in paragraph 9 of his judgment).