The applicant went to a police station along with his girlfriend who was to be interviewed on an unspecified matter. He was arrested and questioned about a burglary. He made a confession, but he claimed that he had done so because the police had refused to let him see his solicitor and had eventually said that he would not be allowed to see him until he had made a confession. At the applicant’s trial, the evidence relating to the obtaining of the confession was heard by the judge on a voir dire. At the end of the voir dire the judge ruled that the applicant’s confession statements had been given voluntarily and that the Judges’ Rules had not been breached. He accordingly admitted them.
Held: (Commission) There had been no breach of article 6(1). Referring to the judge’s decision to admit the evidence: ‘This decision was not decisive for the outcome of the applicant’s trial, however, since the judge’s ruling extended only to the admissibility of the evidence, the probative value of which remained for the jury to evaluate when the witnesses were examined and cross-examined before them. In these circumstances, the Commission finds that the system of guarantees for evaluating the admissibility of challenged evidence, the probative value of which was subsequently and separately examined by a jury, was such as to provide the applicant, who was represented by counsel throughout the proceedings, with a fair trial within the meaning of article 6, para 1 of the Convention.’
9370/81, (1983) 35 DR 75
European Convention on Human Rights 6(1)
Human Rights
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Mushtaq HL 21-Apr-2005
The defendant was convicted of fraud charges. He sought to have excluded statements made in interview on the basis that they had been obtained by oppressive behaviour by the police. His wife was very seriously ill in hospital and he had made the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Human Rights
Updated: 20 December 2021; Ref: scu.224427
