THE KINGDOM OF LESOTHO COMBINED SECOND TO EIGHTH PERIODIC REPORT UNDER THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES’ RIGHTS AND INITIAL REPORT UNDER THE PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA  The Legal Aid Act which offers a statutory mechanism for provision of legal aid to indigent persons who cannot afford private legal representation.27  Speedy Court Trials Act ensures that criminal trials are prosecuted within a reasonable time.  Section 228 of the CP & E guards against self-incrimination by providing that evidence obtained through torture must be excluded from criminal proceedings. Judicial measures 65. The inherent nature of the right to fair trial has been emphasised in various decisions such as:  Commander of the Lesotho Defence Force v Maluke. 28 In this case, the Commander of the Lesotho Defence Force had, at the army parade, labelled the Respondent as a criminal and expressed a need for the institution to make an example of him. The parade was attended by all members of the Court Martial who later presided over the criminal trial referred to by the Commander. The accused soldier challenged composition of the Court on the basis that it violated his right to fair trial. The Court of Appeal struck down the proceedings of the Court Martial on the basis that an exemption provision in the constitution saving the disciplined forces from the operation of the Bill of Rights did not abrogate rules of natural justice. The court thereby affirmed protection of fair trial rights under Section 12 of the Constitution. 27 The Act provides that whenever a person appears to a judicial officer to be in need of legal aid and has insufficient means, a magistrate may certify to the Chief Legal Aid Counsel that such person in the interests of justice in need of legal aid. Then the Chief Legal Aid Counsel shall then undertake the defence of such person. 28Commander of the Lesotho Defence Force v Maluke [2014] LSCA 42. 32