Should Criminals Walk Free When Constables Blunder?
Exclusionary Rules as a Challenge to Criminal Justice Systems
Bildungszentrum 21, Basel (new venue place)
Lingua-Franca Saal
19th of May 2017
organized by Prof. Dr. Sabine Gless
Please notice: We had to change the venue to “Bildungszentrum 21” (Lingua-Franca Saal). Our apologies for any inconvenience caused.
Should criminals go free as a result of mistakes made by the police or prosecution? This question triggers controversial debates in all criminal justice systems. The conference addresses these debates in the context of fact-finding in criminal proceedings. The case for exclusionary rules will be made by analyzing the relevant rules in various European jurisdictions (Switzerland, England and Wales, Germany) and the U.S., Singapore as well as in the Chinese Criminal Procedure Law in mainland China and in Taiwan. All of these systems provide for exclusionary rules that ban certain evidence (such as evidence obtained through torture or by way of other undue coercion during the investigation) from being used during the fact-finding process in criminal trials.
Exclusionary rules are highly controversial as they prevent the fact-finder relying on potentially relevant evidence; this is difficult to reconcile with the court’s obligation to search for the truth or to reach a verdict on the basis of a comprehensive factual basis. Nevertheless, we find a wide-range of exclusionary rules in many legal systems. The legislative rationale behind the adoption of exclusionary rules, however, differs widely in the various systems. Explanations for exclusionary rules include the idea to promote a certain conduct on the part of investigators and the concept that they serve to uphold the court’s dignity by only allowing it to rely on lawfully obtained evidence. Little is known of the importance and the impact of exclusionary rules in the different criminal justice systems in practice. The various panels aim to contribute to a better understanding of the role of exclusionary rules in different legal systems and cultural environments.
Enrollment by 3rd of May 2017
via e-mail to Laura.Macula@unibas.ch
There will be no attendance fee due to the generous funding of
ETH Zürich Sino-Swiss Science and Technology Cooperation 2013–2016
