135. As mentioned in the Commentary on Principle 7.6, because deprivation of nationality has an inherent penal nature, and its consequences are particularly severe and permanent, the right to a public hearing must also extend to measures of deprivation even if these measures should never be used as punishment and even where they are administrative and do not follow a prior criminal conviction. The right to a fair trial also entails that everyone is entitled to certain minimum procedural guarantees without discrimination.229 Some of these were already discussed under Principle 7.6 and include, for instance, the right for any affected person to be informed promptly and in detail in a familiar language of the nature and cause of the charges against them.230 136. Any person deprived of their nationality must be able “to defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choosing or, if he has not sufficient means to pay for legal assistance, to be given it free when the interests of justice so require .231 This contains three distinct guarantees. First, everyone has the right to be present during the proceedings in order to defend themselves. According to the HRC, this provision “[…] requires that accused persons are entitled to be present during their trial. Proceedings in the absence of the accused may in some circumstances be permissible in the interest of the proper administration of justice, i.e. when accused persons, although informed of the proceedings sufficiently in advance, decline to exercise their right to be present. Consequently, such trials are only compatible with article 14, paragraph 3(d) [ICCPR] if the necessary steps are taken to summon accused persons in a timely manner and to inform them beforehand about the date and place of their trial and to request their attendance.”232 137. Second, the person concerned has the right to be assisted by a lawyer if they desire. Third, if the person is unable to afford legal assistance, but nevertheless wishes to be represented by a lawyer, they shall be granted legal aid. Once a decision has been taken, the person concerned has the right to “have access to a duly reasoned, written judgment of the trial court, clearly stating the reasons underlying the decisions taken.233 According to the HRC, as expressed in General Comment No. 32, this right must be respected in order for the person concerned to effectively exercise their right to have the decision taken by a judicial body, or a relevant administrative body, “reviewed by a higher tribunal according to law .234 Finally, everyone has the right not to be “tried or punished again for an offence for which he has already been finally convicted or acquitted in accordance with the law and penal procedure of each country .235 This last guarantee is of fundamental importance in cases of deprivation of nationality, as such measures must always be considered to constitute ‘punishment’ for this purpose.236 229 Art. 14(3) ICCPR. Art. 14(3)(a) ICCPR. 231 Art. 14(3)(d) ICCPR, see also Art. 6(3)(c) ECHR. 232 Human Rights Committee, ‘General Comment No. ’ CCPR C GC , para . 233 Human Rights Committee, ‘General Comment No. ’ CCPR C GC , para . 234 Art. 14(5) ICCPR. 235 Art. 14(7) ICCPR. 236 UN Human Rights Council, ’Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality: Report of the Secretary-General‘, A HRC , para 20; CoE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights AS Jur , ‘Withdrawing nationality as a measure to combat terrorism: a human rights-compatible approach? Report’, AS Jur (2018) 49, para 6. 230 68