VICTIM PROTECTION AND THE ADMISSIBILITY OF EVIDENCE IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS: A ROMANO-GERMAN (CONTINENTAL) LAW PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

This article analyses the admissibility of evidence obtained in criminal proceedings where special procedural measures are applied to protect victims in Romano-German (continental) legal systems. Drawing on the experience of Germany, France and Italy, and on the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, it examines the structural tension between protecting victims from secondary victimisation and preserving the accused’s right to a fair trial. It argues that, in continental criminal procedure, admissibility cannot be reduced to formal legality and must instead be assessed through a principled evaluation of proportionality, equality of arms and the overall fairness of the proceedings, with particular attention to judicial responsibility for fact-finding, the principles of orality and immediacy, and the availability of counterbalancing safeguards.