Article 11
Rights of persons charged with or convicted of criminal offence
(1) Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall have the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law.
(2) In the determination of any criminal charge against him, everyone shall be entitled to the following minimum guarantees, in full equality—
- (a) to be informed promptly and in detail in a language which he understands of the nature and cause of the charge against him;
- (b) to have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defence and to communicate with counsel of his own choosing;
- (c) to be tried without undue delay;
- (d) to be tried in his presence, and to defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choosing; to be informed, if he does not have legal assistance, of this right; and to have legal assistance assigned to him, in any case where the interests of justice so require, and without payment by him in any such case if he does not have sufficient means to pay for it;
- (e) to examine, or have examined, the witnesses against him and to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on his behalf under the same conditions as witnesses against him;
- (f) to have the free assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand or speak the language used in court;
- (g) not to be compelled to testify against himself or to confess guilt.
(3) In the case of juvenile persons, the procedure shall be such as will take account of their age and the desirability of promoting their rehabilitation.
(4) Everyone convicted of a crime shall have the right to his conviction and sentence being reviewed by a higher tribunal according to law.
(5) When a person has by a final decision been convicted of a criminal offence and when subsequently his conviction has been reversed or he has been pardoned on the ground that a new or newly discovered fact shows conclusively that there has been a miscarriage of justice, the person who has suffered punishment as a result of such conviction shall be compensated according to law, unless it is proved that the non-disclosure of the unknown fact in time is wholly or partly attributable to him.
(6) No one shall be liable to be tried or punished again for an offence for which he has already been finally convicted or acquitted in accordance with the law and penal procedure of Hong Kong.
