On this day 552 years ago, Joan of Arc was acquitted of heresy at a retrial. The verdict came 25 years too late for Joan, who was burnt at the stake for heresy in 1431, at the age of 19. At the initial trial, the clerical notary commissioned to collect testimony against Joan was unable to find sufficient evidence to initiate a trial. The court proceeded anyway. Joan was denied the right to a legal advisor, in violation of ecclesiastical law.
At the first public examination, Joan complained that those present were all partisans against her, but she was not allowed assistance from any French clerics. Many of the participants at the trial took part because of threats to their personal safety. Significant portions of the transcript of the trial were altered in a manner adverse to the accused. Instead of being kept in an ecclesiastical prison with female guards as required by the Inquisitorial guidelines, Joan was kept in a secular prison guarded by male soldiers.
The unfairness of Joan’s trial, and the futility of her subsequent exculpation – given that she had already been executed – are salutary reminders of the importance of providing fair process at trials. In a fair trial, the judge and jury must be unbiased, the procedures of court must be complied with, the accused must have a right to representation by a competent lawyer, the accused must not have been tortured, and the accused must be given a right of appeal. The treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay has not been in accordance with these principles of fairness, and has been a great embarrassment to civilised countries.