Admissibility of evidence

The concept of admissibility of evidence in criminal process Violation of admissibility requirements constitutes dire legal consequences - non-admissibility of evidence. On the one hand, consistent implementation of admissibility requirements is imperative for ensuring the intended purpose of the criminal process. On the other hand, deviation from these requirements is common and illegally obtained evidence often becomes admissible for that same purpose of the criminal process. The objective of the master’s thesis is to examine the concept of admissibility of evidence in Lithuanian criminal law. The following tasks are set to achieve the goal: 1) to reveal the concept of admissibility of evidence in Lithuanian legal doctrine; 2) to examine the perception of admissibility of evidence in Lithuanian criminal law cases; 3) to reveal international courts’ (the International Criminal Court, the European Court of Human Rights) and other countries’ (USA, England, Denmark and Belgium) judicial decisions applying admissibility of evidence requirements in criminal process and to make a comparative analysis; 4) to evaluate problematic aspects of admissibility requirements, methods and means while ensuring that evidence are admissible. The first chapter of the master's thesis "The concept of admissibility of evidence in criminal process of Lithuania" reveals conceptual issues regarding admissibility of evidence in Lithuanian legal doctrine. The conclusion is that evidences can be recognized as admissible even though formally they do not fulfill the admissibility criteria in accordance with the Lithuanian Criminal Procedure Code’s Article 20 requirements. The second chapter "Admissibility of evidence in the criminal proceedings of foreign countries and the international courts" deals with the concept of admissibility of evidence in the countries of common and civil law as well as in the penal cases of the international courts. It is concluded that illegally obtained evidences are widely acceptable as admissible, even in cases of human rights violations, the courts possess wide discretion and often refer to the general principles to rule on admissibility of evidence. The third chapter on "Lithuanian case law on admissibility of evidence” evaluates the courts’ rulings on acceptance or rejection of evidences as admissible when there is a breach of the Criminal Procedure Code’ Article 20 requirements. The conclusion is that the majority of cases are related to the irregularities of illegally obtained evidences; decisions are often based by formally referring to the requirements enshrined in legal acts; there is limited practice of using general principles such as probative value and other principles in assessing admissibility of evidence. The concept of admissibility of evidence, as a theoretical construct, cannot be defined (established) with a contribution of case law