The term ‘natural justice’ refers to the fundamental rules governing the fair adjudication of disputes. The two principal rules are audi alteram partem (‘allow both sides of the dispute to be heard’) and nemo iudex in sua causa (‘no person can be a judge in their own cause’, i.e. judges should not be biased).
This latter rule was the basis of the appeal by Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in 2000 against the decision of the House of Lords Appellate Committee to extradite him to Spain to face charges of torture and murder during his regime. Pinochet appealed on the grounds that one of the House of Lords panel, Lord Hoffman, was a member and chairman of Amnesty International, and that Amnesty International had been allowed to intervene and be represented in the hearing.
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