Transnational Criminal Proceedings, Witness Evidence and Confrontation: Lessons from the ECtHR’s Case Law
A single European area of freedom, security and justice requires new models of judicial cooperation in criminal matters to be put in place in order to efficiently combat transnational organized crime. However, this should not be done while disregarding the protection of the individual rights of the...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Utrecht University School of Law
2013-09-01
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| Series: | Utrecht Law Review |
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| Online Access: | http://www.utrechtlawreview.org/articles/10.18352/ulr.246/ |
| _version_ | 1819113613170835456 |
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| author | Lorena Bachmaier Winter |
| author_facet | Lorena Bachmaier Winter |
| author_sort | Lorena Bachmaier Winter |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A single European area of freedom, security and justice requires new models of judicial cooperation in criminal matters to be put in place in order to efficiently combat transnational organized crime. However, this should not be done while disregarding the protection of the individual rights of the suspect and the accused: a transnational criminal procedure should not entail a lowering of the procedural safeguards identified by the European Court of Human Rights. The tension between the efficiency in the cooperation and the need to protect the fundamental rights of the defendant is particularly visible in matters of the transnational gathering of evidence, its transfer and its admissibility as evidence against the accused. This paper intends to identify general principles and rules that should be applied in European transnational criminal proceedings with regard to witness evidence. Departing from the ECHR’s case law, this paper will try to identify the principles regarding the hearing of witnesses who reside in another Member State, the admissibility of pre-trial statements as evidence and the need to foster the use of the live video link for witness questioning. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T04:32:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0eb882bcbbb5423780ca0578f67eb830 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1871-515X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T04:32:11Z |
| publishDate | 2013-09-01 |
| publisher | Utrecht University School of Law |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Utrecht Law Review |
| spelling | doaj.art-0eb882bcbbb5423780ca0578f67eb8302022-12-21T18:39:00ZengUtrecht University School of LawUtrecht Law Review1871-515X2013-09-019412714610.18352/ulr.246236Transnational Criminal Proceedings, Witness Evidence and Confrontation: Lessons from the ECtHR’s Case LawLorena Bachmaier Winter0Complutense University, MadridA single European area of freedom, security and justice requires new models of judicial cooperation in criminal matters to be put in place in order to efficiently combat transnational organized crime. However, this should not be done while disregarding the protection of the individual rights of the suspect and the accused: a transnational criminal procedure should not entail a lowering of the procedural safeguards identified by the European Court of Human Rights. The tension between the efficiency in the cooperation and the need to protect the fundamental rights of the defendant is particularly visible in matters of the transnational gathering of evidence, its transfer and its admissibility as evidence against the accused. This paper intends to identify general principles and rules that should be applied in European transnational criminal proceedings with regard to witness evidence. Departing from the ECHR’s case law, this paper will try to identify the principles regarding the hearing of witnesses who reside in another Member State, the admissibility of pre-trial statements as evidence and the need to foster the use of the live video link for witness questioning.http://www.utrechtlawreview.org/articles/10.18352/ulr.246/European criminal procedurewitness evidencetransnational proceedingsthe admissibility of evidencelegal harmonizationmutual recognitiondefence rights |
| spellingShingle | Lorena Bachmaier Winter Transnational Criminal Proceedings, Witness Evidence and Confrontation: Lessons from the ECtHR’s Case Law Utrecht Law Review European criminal procedure witness evidence transnational proceedings the admissibility of evidence legal harmonization mutual recognition defence rights |
| title | Transnational Criminal Proceedings, Witness Evidence and Confrontation: Lessons from the ECtHR’s Case Law |
| title_full | Transnational Criminal Proceedings, Witness Evidence and Confrontation: Lessons from the ECtHR’s Case Law |
| title_fullStr | Transnational Criminal Proceedings, Witness Evidence and Confrontation: Lessons from the ECtHR’s Case Law |
| title_full_unstemmed | Transnational Criminal Proceedings, Witness Evidence and Confrontation: Lessons from the ECtHR’s Case Law |
| title_short | Transnational Criminal Proceedings, Witness Evidence and Confrontation: Lessons from the ECtHR’s Case Law |
| title_sort | transnational criminal proceedings witness evidence and confrontation lessons from the ecthr s case law |
| topic | European criminal procedure witness evidence transnational proceedings the admissibility of evidence legal harmonization mutual recognition defence rights |
| url | http://www.utrechtlawreview.org/articles/10.18352/ulr.246/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT lorenabachmaierwinter transnationalcriminalproceedingswitnessevidenceandconfrontationlessonsfromtheecthrscaselaw |