Guilty Without Trial: Assessing the due Process Rights of Suspects under the Cameroonian Criminal Law and Procedure

An inefficient criminal justice process damages the credibility of the justice system and arguably weakens the rule of law. Protecting the rights of individuals subjected to criminal proceedings is an essential element of the rule of law. International instruments on human rights reiterate the need for everyone to be presume innocent until proven guilty in the course of trial and the importance and central role of this presumption is recognized by legal systems throughout the world. Cameroon is considered to follow the monist approach to applying international law. This means that all international treaties on Human Rights which have been approved, duly ratified, and published by Cameroon, become part of the national law. This article focuses on the framework for the protection of persons at the initial stage of the criminal process and raises the question whether a person might be found guilty of an offence even without being tried This article equally examines the problematic enforcement of the rights of suspects in Cameroon. It offers a critical review of that right by assessing its compatibility with international standards. It finds that, although the Cameroon Criminal Procedure Code has strived to respect these fundamental human right treaties, it application nationally is not absolute. In light of that assessment, the paper seeks to identify the impediments to the effective enforcement of the right and to recommend the most effective and feasible mechanisms for developing a robust enforcement framework for the protection and promotion of the rights of suspects in Cameroon.