The right to a fair trial and access to justice are fundamental and global (i.e., article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice) legal principles stipulated in most constitutions and international conventions (e.g., article 96, 97 of the Egyptian Constitution of 2014; article 20 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bahrain of 2002; article 118, 120 of the Morocco's Constitution of 2011; article 108 of the Tunisian Constitution of 2014; and article 47 of Saudi Arabia Royal Order No. A90/1412 on the Promulgation of the Basic Law of Governance).

In the United Arab Emirates, article 41 of UAE Constitution gives everyone the right to complain to the authorities, including the judiciary, for any violation of rights or freedom.

Article 28 of the UAE Constitution presumes that an accused, in a criminal trial, is innocent unless a court indicted them in a fair trial, after granting them the right to appoint their defence freely.