Significant issues of the concept of evidence and admissability of evidence in the theory and practice of Code of Criminal Procedure of Lithuania

Straipsnyje aptariamos aktualios įrodymų sampratos problemos Lietuvos baudžiamojo proceso teorijoje ir praktikoje. Nagrinėjama dabar vyraujanti įrodymų koncepcija, pabrėžiamas būtinumas vertinti įrodymus kaip jų turinio ir formos vienovę. Kritikuojamas Baudžiamojo proceso kodekse (BPK) įtvirtintas išsamus faktinių duomenų šaltinių sąrašas kaip prieštaraujantis laisvo įrodymų vertinimo principui. Analizuojama informacijos samprata BPK projekte, teikiami pasiūlymai dėl informacijos ir įrodymo terminų turinio ir vartojimo šiame akte.Preparation of the new Code of Criminal Procedure of the Republic of Lithuania requires critical evaluation of previous Lithuanian and European legal practice and theory in this sphere. The concept of evidence is very important. It encompasses two basic categories i.e. data of facts embodied in a special forma i.e. sources of evidence. Superficial evaluation of data of facts, when attention is paid only to the quantity of sources, is often the cause of judicial errors. The list of evidence consolidated in part 2 of Article No. 74 of Code of Criminal Procedure is considered exhaustive. In the absence of clear–cut criteria of division of sources of evidence this concept is incompatible with the principle of free evaluation of evidence. When evaluating the quality of evidence sources, attention should be paid to the means they were obtained. One of the requirements for the means of evidence gathering should be their formal consolidation in the law i.e. evidence should be obtained "in accordance with the law". The practice of European court of human rights is orientated in this direction. After exhaustive regulation of sources of evidence is declined, the present concept of evidence could be transferred to the new Code of Criminal Procedure, because the authors of the draft Code of Criminal Procedure propose a vague term of information to define evidence i.e. in the sense of report. This gives real preconditions for abuse in the process of arguing. The use of scientific term of information in criminal procedure and its application in the theory of evidence would be progressive and welcome if this is done systematically, linking the term of information with categories of signal, source of information and other categories of theory of information