Spain: Constitution and legislation
The 1978 Constitution defines the right not to be tortured as a fundamental right, and legislation then provides
that “evidence directly or indirectly obtained in infringement of fundamental rights shall not have legal effect”
(Spanish Judiciary Act, 1985, Article 11.1). The Spanish Supreme Court has stated that “evidence obtained in
violation of fundamental rights must not be assessed by the Court” (Judgment 3943/1990 of 24 May 1990).
Tunisia: Code of Criminal Procedure nullifies torture evidence
The express legal prohibition on the use of evidence obtained by torture was added to Article 155 of the Code
of Criminal Procedure in 2011. It states that “accounts and confessions of the accused and statements of the
witnesses will be deemed null and void, if it can be established that they were obtained under torture or duress.”
For additional examples of Article 15-related laws, see APT-CTI Guide on anti-torture legislation, Chapter 3.
THE ROLE OF POLICE INTERVIEWERS AND INVESTIGATORS
Many States have adopted policies and procedures
(safeguards) for the police and other law enforcement
officials on how to interview suspects, witnesses and
victims, and to ensure that information provided by
them is done so voluntarily and without coercion.
In some States, confessions can only be used in
court proceedings if these safeguards are shown
to have been complied with. In other jurisdictions,
lessons have been learned that improving early
evidence gathering and forensic collection, prior to
bringing in suspects in for questioning, reduces the
incentives to induce, by unlawful means, confessions.
In many countries, confession evidence needs to be
corroborated.
“
[-] States must ensure that no statement
that is established to have been made as a
result of torture is invoked as evidence in
any proceedings, except against a person
accused of torture as evidence that the
statement was made, [and] urges States
to extend that prohibition to statements
made as a result of cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment…”
UN General Assembly Resolution A/Res/72/163,
19 December 2017, para. 6.
In a growing number of countries, rapport-building methods of questioning suspects, victims and witnesses
have been found to produce more accurate and reliable information, and to be more effective at detecting,
investigating and solving crime. Such techniques have also minimised spurious allegations of misconduct against
the police or other authorities. It is important when trying to dismantle confession-oriented investigation cultures
that efforts are made to not only train police in new techniques, but also that promotions systems do not prioritise
case resolution statistics, and that other negative incentives are removed. The need to invest in forensic science,
alongside other crime detection techniques and training, is equally relevant.
TOOL: Non-admission of evidence obtained by torture and ill-treatment
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