Illegal evidence in criminal proceedings

Uzimajući u obzir važnost dokaza u kaznenom postupku, kao i činjenicu da istragu provode tijela državne vlasti na način koji često predstavlja i ograničavanje određenih ljudskih prava, neophodno je osigurati da se dokazi i prikupljaju i koriste na način koji je pravičan i koji ne predstavlja povredu ljudskih prava. Zato moderni pravni sustavi imaju pravila o tome kada je neki dokaz zakonit ili nezakonit, a takva pravila ima i hrvatsko pravo. Ovaj rad donosi pregled teorija o razlozima izdvajanja nezakonitih dokaza, kao i temeljne karakteristike uređenja nezakonitih dokaza u SAD-u, Njemačkoj te praksi Europskog suda za ljudska prava. Dalje se obrađuje institut nezakonitih dokaza u hrvatskom pravu, počevši od njegovog razvoja, preko obrade pravila o pojedinim vrstama nezakonitih dokaza, do faktične primjene tih pravila u sudskoj praksi.Considering the importance of evidence in criminal proceedings and the fact that investigations are being conducted by public authorities in a way that almost always interferes with human rights, it is of vital significance to ensure that the evidence is both collected and used in a manner that is fair and not a breach of human rights. That is why modern law systems have certain rules about when a piece of evidence is illegal or not, and the Croatian law system is no exception. This paper brings a review of the theories that justify exclusionary rules, as well as key elements of exclusionary rules of USA, Germany and European court of human rights. Then the paper deals with how the illegal evidence is being dealt with in Croatia; starting with the evolution of the institute, then describing rules about each type of illegal evidence and how those rules are applied in case law