Download or read book Study on Cross-border Use of Evidence in Criminal Proceedings written by and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Evidence plays a crucial role in criminal proceedings. Nowadays, the European Union (EU) has a comprehensive legal framework in the area of judicial cooperation in criminal matters. Instruments based on the principle of mutual recognition constitute the core of this framework. The cross-border gathering of evidence follows, depending on the instrument of cooperation chosen, either the law of the executing state (locus regit actum principle) or that of the issuing state (forum regit actum principle). Throughout the last decades, cross-border criminal proceedings are increasing both in numbers and complexity. For instance, in 2019, the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) received requests for assistance in nearly 8 000 cross-border criminal investigations, representing an increase of 17 % compared to 2018. However, there are still substantial differences in the way Member States regulate the gathering and admissibility of criminal evidence. These differences may constitute an obstacle in cross-border (EU) cases, because the admissibility of evidence is primarily a matter for regulation by national law and it is for the national courts to assess such evidence. The objective of this study is to analyse existing national rules on the collection, and (in)admissibiliy of evidence and identify problems or gaps in the context of cross-border (EU) situations with a view to inform the Commission's assessment of the need for specific and more comprehensive EU-wide rules in relation to the admissibility of criminal evidence in cross-border (EU) cases. The study covers the period from 2010 until March 2022 and covers all EU Member States. It provides an overview of the existing national rules applicable to cross-border (EU) gathering and (in)admissibility of criminal evidence and their application, highlighting commonalities and divergences. On the basis of this legal mapping and stakeholder consultation, the study identifies the existing problems and the underlying drivers and investigates possible options to address these problems. The data presented in the report is based on desk research and stakeholder consultation carried out through scoping interviews, a survey and semi-structured interviews. These were completed by two case studies, which investigated some of the issues linked to the admissibility of criminal evidence, respectively on inadmissibility of cross-border evidence and on the defence's inability to challenge court decisions on the (in)admissibility of criminal evidence gathered in another Member State.