The Potential to Secure a Fair Trial Through Evidence Exclusion: A Swiss Perspective

Abstract

Swiss criminal procedure has a strong inquisitorial tradition and its primary purpose is the search for the "material truth." However, authorities are neither obliged nor allowed to search for this truth at any cost and are limited by procedural rules, which also serve to protect a defendant from the authorities. One possible means of enforcing such procedural rules is the exclusion of improperly obtained evidence. In Switzerland, the legislature established explicit provisions around the collection of evidence and its admissibility in criminal proceedings by adopting art. 139-141 of the Criminal Procedure Code in 2011. This is a comprehensive statutory regulation that is unique in Europe. Nevertheless, the Swiss Supreme Court continues to find ways to preserve its own power over the admission of evidence and often errs on the side of admitting evidence. With a focus on this tension between the legal framework and the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court, the Swiss country report describes the relevant legal framework, phases of the criminal process, and the relevant parties to criminal proceedings. Also discussed in detail are the current regulations as well as the Supreme Court's case law on exclusionary rules. An assessment of the potential for such rules to safeguard individual rights and prevent improper evidence acquisition is a focus of the paper.

Procedural Aspects of Admissibility of Evidence in Criminal Proceedings

“…Atsižvelgiant į teisinio reguliavimo įvairovę, procedūriniai įrodymų leistinumo aspektai dažniausiai nagrinėjami remiantis konkrečių valstybių teisiniu reguliavimu. Paminėtini autoriai, nagrinėję procedūrinius įrodymų leistinumo aspektus Graikijos (Giannoulopoulos, 2017(Giannoulopoulos, , 2019, Šveicarijos (Macula, 2019), Vokietijos (Weigend, 2019) teisės sistemose. Bendrą teorinį požiūrį iš skirtingų teisės tradicijų perspektyvų pateikė M. R. Damaška (1997), J. D. Jackson ir S. J.…”

The Purposes and Functions of Exclusionary Rules: A Comparative Overview

“…Thaman, 2013 at 416-417 (discussing exclusionary rules in Spain, Colombia, Brazil, Portugal, Greece, and Germany);Macula, 2019;Lin et al, 2019. …”