Essays of Faculty of Law University of Pécs Yearbook of 2010

(...) Over the last five years, the author has undertaken research and gathered data on the national regulations of a number of EU countries regarding the use of institutionalised confrontation as an accepted method of determining the truth in criminal proceedings and/or as a technique used in crime-solving (criminalistics) where recommendations and actual practice were the object of interest. He sought answers to several questions: a) Does the institution exist in the particular country? b) If so, how is it regulated? (By law or by recommendation?) c) If there is a law, what are the name, number, source and text? d) Is face-to-face confrontation institutionalised in criminal proceedings and, if yes, with what attached recommendations? e) If it exists within criminal proceedings, at which stage is it used - during investigation or in the judicial phase? f) If confrontation exists, how effective is it? What are the views of law enforcement officers? Basically, the author looked for answers to the main theoretical questions by means of questionnaires, personal interviews with law enforcement bodies (judges, prosecutors, barristers, police officials) and by (international) legal analysis. 1. A review of various national regulations During this research carried out over the last 5 years, I gathered data from numerous EU countries’ national regulations regarding confrontation - as well as on their recommendations and practice concerning crime-investigation tactics. For the most part, I tried to answer a number of questions by means of questionnaires and personal interviews with law enforcement bodies such as judges, prosecutors, barristers and police officers - and by legal analysis: a) Does the institution exist in the particular country? b) If so, how is it regulated? (By law or by recommendation?) c) If there is a law, what are the name, number, source and text? d) Is face-to-face confrontation institutionalised in criminal proceedings and, if yes, with what attached recommendations? e) If it exists within criminal proceedings, at which stage is it used - during investigation or in the judicial phase? f) If confrontation exists, how effective is it? What are the views of law enforcement officers? g) Is face-to-face confrontation institutionalised within criminal proceedings and, if yes, with what attached recommendations? Based on the answers, two groups appear: those countries which do not have or use the institutionalised form (the minority) and those who do (most countries). It is used both within the framework of criminal proceedings and as an investigating (truth-seeking) tool...