pruh+znak_PF_13_gray5+fialovy_RGB PF_PPT_en Evidence Law/ The Law of evidence Marek FRYSTAK Department of Criminal Law Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 General Information n nevidence law - written law included in the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) n nall those provisions represent a certain instruction of rational steps of investigative, prosecuting and adjudicating bodies (IPA bodies) when preparing the factual basis of their decision n nthe primary source of (not only) criminal law is the law n nstate authority may be asserted only in cases and within the bounds provided for by law and only in the manner prescribed by law n nIPA bodies are state authorities and can exercise in criminal proceedings only what the law allows them n n n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 2 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 nin making decisions, (not only) judges are bound only by statutes and treaties which form a part of the legal order n npolitics, confession, momentary good or bad mood, family well-being, tiredness etc. n njudicial decisions (case law) are not the source of law n nwhy the courts use them and base on them their decisions? n nrespect the legal certainty of citizens based on the fact that the courts in factually similar cases decided in a similar way n nif the courts decides the case without applied judicial decisions is real appeal court overrule this decision n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 3 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 Evidence n n n nevidence means action (activity) of IPA bodies regulated in CPC the objective of which is to loop up evidence, produce such obtained evidence and to check and assess the obtained evidence n nevidence represents the only way in which IPA bodies may and must obtain the factual basis for its decision or for further actions n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 4 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 Basic Phases of Evidence n nsearching for evidence - an obligation of all IPA bodies to search for anything that may be used as a mean of evidence and which may contribute to clarification of the case n ne.g. questioning of the accused, questioning of the witness, examination of the scene of crime etc. n nproducing and procedural taking of evidence - an obligation of IPA bodies to produce all found items of evidence and to take them procedurally n ne.g. examination of the scene of crime itself and its taking in the form of a report on examination of the scene of crime, including a plan or sketch of the scene of crime, making video and audio documentation etc. n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 5 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 n nchecking and assessing the evidence - an obligation of IPA bodies to check each found evidence in details and subsequently also in mutual relations between items of evidence n nreliability of evidence n nthe witness is advised to tell the truth but he is lying (it his reliable?) n ncorrect and due performance of the check is a basic prerequisite of an objective assessment of evidence n n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 6 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 Basic Principles of Evidence Presumption of Innocence Principle n n nuntil guilt is declared in a final and conclusive sentencing judgment, the one against whom the criminal proceedings is conducted may not be considered guilty n nif there are any doubts about guilt of the accused and those can't be successfully removed by producing other evidence then it is necessary to decide for the benefit of the accused - principle in dubio pro reo n npractical reaction of IPA bodies n n„I am clear and sure about your guilty and evidence restrain me“ n n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 7 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 n n nin order to sentence the accused, his guilt must be proven as the accused is not obliged to prove his innocence or more precisely to prove any fact important for criminal proceedings n nnemo tenetur se ipsum accusare - privilege against self-incrimination n nno conclusion regarding guilt may be deduced from activity or passivity of accused n naccused may remain silent and totally passive (it is his fundamental right) n n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 8 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 Searching Principle n nIPA bodies are obliged to ascertain ex officio facts testifying for the benefit as well as to the detriment of the accused n ne.g on the basis of their official duty and they do not wait for any activity/motion of the parties n n„indictment deviation“ n nthe accused may suggest production of a certain time of evidence n ne.g. clarification of a fact which is important in terms of his guilt and which may even testify for his benefit n nevidence can not be rejected just because it suggested by the accused n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 9 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 Verbal Principle nhearing before court is verbal n nevidence in the form of testimony of witnesses, experts and the accused is usually produced by interrogation of those persons n nthere is an opportunity to produce evidence by reading a record of prior questioning of accused/witness if n nhe/she refuses to give a testimony before court n nis in relation to the accused his sibling, adoptive parents, adoptive child, spouse, partner or common law husband n n n n n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 10 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 n nthere are differences in their current and original testimony n nit does not mean that an accused/witness is lying (ability to remember after a long time period) n nthe witness testimony does not agree with the accused testimony n nin order to find the reliability of evidence is necessary to remove these distortions n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 11 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 Principle of Directness n n nwhen making a decision in the trial the court may consider only such evidence which was produced during the trial n nthe rule of impossibility to change members of the court according to which only the judge who was present at the trial from its beginning until its end may render decision n nwitness testifies in favor of the accused but quite obviously he is sweating or nervous (lets ask why ?) - the reliability of evidence n n n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 12 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 n nthe rule of impossibility to postpone the trial supposed to ensure that the court decides on the basis of perceptions following from facts learnt in the performed trial n nhowever this does not mean that it would be impossible to postpone the trial in special cases n ne.g. due to the provision of further evidence Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 13 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 Principle of Discretionary Weighing of Evidence n n nIPA bodies weigh the evidence according to their internal belief based on careful consideration of all circumstances of the case individually as well as in their aggregate n nis built on the internal belief of IPA bodies which is not created as a manifestation of subjective arbitrariness n nit means strictly logically, based on the legal order, legal awareness, universal and logical weighing of evidence as well as the context of cases, it must result in a belief about whether and how a certain act happened and how it should be legally assessed n n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 14 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 n nin the court decision must be specified n nwhich facts it considers proven, which evidence it used as a basis of its factual findings, the existence of which facts it considers doubtful and what are the results thereof and which considerations the court follows n nonly such decision is reviewable and may be appealed n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 15 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 Principle of Ascertaining Facts Free of Justified Doubts n nindividual facts must be proven only in the extent necessary for a decision in terms of ascertaining the facts of the case for a specific decision n nCPC does not include the principle of the so-called objective truth which allows the court, when rendering its decision, to be satisfied with such facts of the case which both parties jointly recognize proven n nwhat is the truth and it is possible to ascertain the truth objective or subjective n nwhose truth is correct – yours or mine n nin making decisions judges are bound only by statutes and treaties …. all citizens may do that which is not prohibited by law n n n n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 16 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 n n nconfession of the accused does not release IPA bodies from the obligation to examine all important circumstances of the case n nthe accused may defend in any way – possibility to give false testimony n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 17 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 The Subject of Evidence - three basic types of facts ncircumstances important for the meritorious decision n ne.g. circumstances forming the elements of an offence which is allegedly the prosecuted act, circumstances suggesting or disproving that the offender is the accused, circumstances important in terms of imposing a certain measure on the accused n ncircumstances important for further actions in the criminal proceedings n ne.g. circumstances justifying postpone of a trial, suspension of criminal prosecution, refusal of the obligation to testify n ncircumstances that resulted in criminal activity or allowed its committing and circumstances important for the decision on assertion of a claim for damages n n n n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 18 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 The scope of evidence n nin the necessary extent must be proven n nwhether the act regarded as an offence was committed n ne.g. whether the act was committed at all, the manner of its committing, circumstances of its committing as well as circumstances excluding unlawfulness of the act n ne.g. extreme emergency, self-defence, approval of the injured, admissible risk or authorized use of a weapon n nwhether the act was committed by the accused, identification of specific offender (state authority person, soldier the mother of a newborn baby), his age (adult, juvenile) as well as motive (vengeance, greed) n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 19 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 n nimportant circumstances affecting assessment of the nature and seriousness of the act but also reasons excluding unlawfulness n ne.g. the statute of limitations, effective regret n ncircumstances important in terms of assessment of offender's personal background (facts describing the personality of the offender) n nimportant circumstances allowing to determine effects and the amount of damage caused by the offence n ne.g. asking for assessment of damage or examining whether the damage has not been compensated nminimum is 5.000,- CZK Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 20 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 The facts which cannot be proven n nit is not necessary to prove facts which are considered true on the basis of general human experience and there are no doubts about them n nshould any doubts about those facts occur they would naturally be a subject of evidence n ne.g. the accused was sane, a document delivered to an IPA bodies comes from the person specified therein as the sender or at 8:00 PM in the summer is still sunshine n nthose facts on which a decision was rendered in a manner binding on IPA bodies or on which other bodies than IPA bodies can decide n n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 21 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 nlegal regulations of the Czech Republic published or notified in the Collection of Laws and international treaties published in the Collection of International Treaties n nlegal regulation published or notified in the Official Journal of the European Union n nthe court knows the law (iura novit curia) n nregulations which are not published in the Collection of Laws/Official Journal and therefore they are not generally known are the subject of evidence n ne.g. various statutes, articles or measures nnot EU law is subject of evidence (documentary evidence) n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 22 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 The Means of Evidence n nanything which may contribute to clarification of the case may be used as evidence n ne.g. particular testimonies of the accused and witnesses, expert opinions, objects and documents important for criminal proceedings and examination (exhaustive list) n neach party of the criminal proceedings may look up and submit such evidence or suggest its producing - consequence of the equality of arms (only in trial!!!) n nthe fact that evidence was not looked up or requested by an IPA bodies does not justify refusal of such evidence Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 23 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 Illegal evidence n neach item of evidence must be looked up, produced, procedurally taken and assessed in accordance with the law n nif not it would be obtained in conflict with law, it means it is illegal evidence n nsuch evidence de facto exists but it cannot be used and it must be regarded as if it did not exist at all n nCPC does not include any positive definition of the term of illegal evidence Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 24 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 nevidence obtained by illegal coercion or threat of such coercion must not be used in criminal proceedings n nillegal coercion may take several forms, most frequently the form of physical and psychic coercion n nsuch evidence suffers of a substantial defect which cannot be removed in any way during criminal proceedings and hence it may not be used within the proceedings (absolute ineffectiveness) n nrelative ineffectiveness can be removed during criminal proceedings – e.g. deprivation of confidentiality of witness n nillegal evidence may be used only as evidence against the person who applied such coercion or threat of coercion n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 25 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 Fruit of the poisoned tree theory n nif the first evidence is obtained illegally how is it with the legality of other evidence obtained on the basis of this evidence? n nif the tree is poisoned it means all its fruits are poison n nif the first evidence is illegal all other evidence obtained on the basis of this evidence is illegal n nduring illegal house search was obtained bank account number of the accused under which was requested bank information in accordance with the law n nall obtained evidence is illegal n n n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 26 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 n neven if the tree is poisoned it does not mean all its fruits are poison n nif the first evidence is illegal it is does not mean all other evidence obtained on the basis of this evidence is illegal n nduring illegal house search was obtained bank account number of the accused under which was requested bank information in accordance with the law n nevidence obtained during house search is illegal, bank information is legal n napplication practice accepts both approaches – depends on significance of the evidence n n n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 27 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 Examination of accused n n n nright but not the obligation to testify and comment on all the facts n nobligation to obey the warning to attend the IPA bodies n ndefend in any way – possibility to give false testimony n ncriminal liability for false accusation n n n n n n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 28 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 n npossibilities how to ensure the presence of the accused to the acts of criminal proceedings n nsummons of the accused (volunteered to come) nre-imposing a disciplinary penalty up to 50.000,- CZK nbringing the accused (against his will) narrest warrant n nthere are grounds for custody but can not summons/bring of the accused n ntaking into custody n nescape abroad or hiding in the Czech republic (preventive custody) influencing witnesses (collusive custody) and continuation of the crime (protective custody) n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 29 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 Examination of witness n n nobligation to testify n n„the evidence which I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth“ n nthe witness does not testify under oath but he is advised to tell the truth n nobligation to obey the warning to attend the IPA bodies n n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 30 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 nright to refuse testimony if the witness - necessity to be adviced n nhas duty not to disclose/ pledge of confidentiality n nhe may be testified only if he is deprived of this obligation n nis in relation to the accused his sibling, adoptive parents, adoptive child, spouse, partner or common law husband n n CPC prefer protection of the family relationship n ncan cause the criminal prosecution itself or next of kin (sibling, adoptive parents, adoptive child, spouse, partner or common law husband) or other members in family (cousin, aunt, uncle) or cause them harm, that he feels like own harm n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 31 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 n npossibilities how to ensure the presence of the witness to the acts of criminal proceedings n nsummons of the witness (volunteered to come) n nre-imposing a disciplinary penalty n nbringing the witness (against his will) n n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 32 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 Special Methods of Evidence nevidence as a procedural activity is very closely related to criminalistics n ncriminalistic procedures and methods are directly presented when searching for, taking and using various means of evidence n nCPC regulates only some of them n nit does not mean if a certain criminalistic method is not regulated in CPC it is illegal and therefore inadmissible from the procedural point of view n nthe following methods are closely related with principle of ascertaining facts free of justified doubts n nthe reliability of evidence – where is the „true“? n n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 33 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 Confrontation n n nif the testimony of the accused does not conform to the testimony of a witness or accomplice in significant aspects, the accused can be confronted with the witness of the accomplice face to face n nif the testimony of a witness does not conform to the testimony of the accused or another witness, the witness can be confronted with the accused or another witness face to face n n n n n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 34 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 Recognition/identification n nthe recognition shall be carried out should it be important for the criminal proceedings that the suspect, accused or witness repeatedly recognizes the person or thing and herewith establish his identity n nshould the person be recognized, he shall be shown among at least three persons who do not differ considerably n nif is it not be possible to show the person who shall be recognized, the recognition shall be carried out on the basis of a photography which is submitted with similar pictures of at least three other persons n nif the thing should be recognized it shall be showed in a group of things preferably of the same kind n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 35 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 Investigatory Experiment n nthe investigatory experiment is carried out if the circumstances ascertained in the criminal proceedings, eventually the new circumstances significant for the criminal proceedings, are to be verified or specified, by observation under artificially created or permutated conditions n nwas it possible to shot the victim in that distance? n ncould witness actually to see the accused? n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 36 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 n n n nThanks for your attention n nQuestions…??? Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 37 www.law.muni.cz PF_PPT_nahled PF_PPT_en2 nDoc. JUDr. Marek Frystak, Ph.D. nassistant professor nDepartment of Criminal Law nFaculty of Law - Masaryk University nVeveří 70 n611 80 Brno nThe Czech republic nTel. + 420 549 493 870, Fax. + 420 541 213 162 nE-mail: Marek.Frystak@law.muni.cz n Selected problems of Czech Criminal Law, 18th. April 2017 38