CHAPTER 91

PART IV
GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS AND PROCEEDINGS

115. (1) Every person accused of any criminal offence shall be entitled to be present in court during the whole of his trial unless he so conducts himself in the court as to render the continuance of the proceedings in his presence impossible. The court may, however, in its discretion and subject to the provisions of subsection (2) of section 106 of this Code, allow any part of any trial to take place in the absence of the accused with the consent of the accused, and may permit the accused to be absent in such case upon such terms as it thinks proper.
For the purposes of this section, the consent of the accused person to the conduct of the trial in his absence shall be deemed to have been given in a case in which he enters a written plea of guilty under the provisions of section 66 of this Code.

(2) Every person accused of any criminal offence, whether present in person or absent in accordance with the provisions of this section, may be defended before any court by a legal practitioner except in a case in which the provisions of section 66 of this Code apply and a written plea of guilty has been entered.

Article 63
Trial in the presence of the accused
2. If the accused, being present before the Court, continues to disrupt the trial, the Trial Chamber may remove the accused and shall make provision for him or her to observe the trial and instruct counsel from outside the courtroom, through the use of communications technology, if required. Such measures shall be taken only in exceptional circumstances after other reasonable alternatives have proved inadequate, and only for such duration as is strictly required.

Article 67
Rights of the accused
1. In the determination of any charge, the accused shall be entitled to a public hearing, having regard to the provisions of this Statute, to a fair hearing conducted impartially, and to the following minimum guarantees, in full equality:
(d) Subject to article 63, paragraph 2, to be present at the trial, to conduct the defence in person or through legal assistance of the accused's choosing, to be informed, if the accused does not have legal assistance, of this right and to have legal assistance assigned by the Court in any case where the interests of justice so require, and without payment if the accused lacks sufficient means to pay for it