Procedural Errors in the Evidentiary Process and Their Impact on Criminal Proceedings in the Slovak Republic

Abstract:The lawful procedure in evidentiary process is a conditio sine qua non of the admissibility of evidence. In other words, it is a necessary condition for the admission of evidence in criminal proceedings. The violation of this condition leads to procedural errors leading to the unlawfulness of the evidence, as a result of which the accused may be acquitted. For this reason, it’s the aim of this article, not only to define the procedural errors, whose incidence is particularly noticeable in providing evidence by law enforcement authorities involved in criminal proceedings, but also to analyse their impact on the outcome of the criminal proceedings, i.e. the decision about the guilt and punishment of the accused and on the basis of a specific example, to point out shortcomings which would be appropriate to prevent de lege ferenda.  The presented article provides, on the one hand, a brief insight into the basic terminology related to the mentioned topic, explains the content and purpose of the legislation and on, the other hand, acquires more practical view, based on an analysis of selected example of procedural error in evidentiary process.