Anonyma vittnesmål - avvägningen mellan rättstryggheten och rätten till rättvis rättegång
(2018) LAGF03 20182Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Vittnesmål utgör idag ett viktigt förfarande i rättsprocessen. Vittnesuppgifter är viktiga för att myndigheterna ska få kännedom om brott och är dessutom viktiga bevismedel i rättegång. Under de senaste åren har hot och våld mot vittnen ökat vilket skapat en rättsotrygghet för vittnen. En möjlig lösning för att öka tryggheten för vittnen som diskuterats de senaste 30 åren är införandet av anonyma vittnesmål.
Syftet med uppsatsen är därför att analysera problematiken med införandet av anonyma vittnesmål då hänsyn måste tas till två motstående intressen, rätten till rättvis rättegång och rättstryggheten. Uppsatsen ska utreda hur de olika intressena avvägs och garanteras vid ett anonymt vittnesmål. Det första intresset är rätten till... (More) - Vittnesmål utgör idag ett viktigt förfarande i rättsprocessen. Vittnesuppgifter är viktiga för att myndigheterna ska få kännedom om brott och är dessutom viktiga bevismedel i rättegång. Under de senaste åren har hot och våld mot vittnen ökat vilket skapat en rättsotrygghet för vittnen. En möjlig lösning för att öka tryggheten för vittnen som diskuterats de senaste 30 åren är införandet av anonyma vittnesmål.
Syftet med uppsatsen är därför att analysera problematiken med införandet av anonyma vittnesmål då hänsyn måste tas till två motstående intressen, rätten till rättvis rättegång och rättstryggheten. Uppsatsen ska utreda hur de olika intressena avvägs och garanteras vid ett anonymt vittnesmål. Det första intresset är rätten till rättvis rättegång som uttrycks i artikel 6 EKMR och innebär att den tilltalade har särskilda rättigheter under brottmålsprocessen som ska tillgodoses. Det andra intresset är att vittnet har rätt till liv och säkerhet, en rättighet som riskerar att hotas då rättstryggheten brister. Båda intressena är grundläggande rättigheter och ska tillgodoses. I uppsatsen ska det även utredas om det anses motiverat att införa anonyma vittnesmål. Dessutom ska det analyseras om ett införande av anonyma vittnesmål skulle utgöra ett hot mot rättssäkerheten. För att analysera problematiken har en utredning gjorts dels av artikel 6 EKMR samt rättspraxis från Europadomstolen, dels har en utredning gjorts av svensk rättspraxis, lagstiftning och statliga utredningar.
Det konstateras i uppsatsen att det idag inte finns ett fullständigt skydd för vittnenas rättstrygghet och att åtgärder måste vidtas. Det redovisas dock att anonyma vittnesmål inte är en effektiv lösning, då det i praktiken inte skulle öka rättstryggheten avsevärt. Dessutom konstateras det att trots att Europadomstolen ansett anonyma vittnesmål vara förenligt med artikel 6 EKMR under vissa förutsättningar, utgör anonyma vittnesmål inskränkningar i den tilltalades rätt till rättvis rättegång.
Slutsatsen är att anonyma vittnesmål inte är en effektiv lösning och skulle dessutom leda till att rätten till rättvis rättegång inte kan garanteras. Det skulle även leda till brister i förutsebarheten av rättstillämpningen och leda till icke konsekventa bedömningar av rätten till rättvis rättegång. I slutändan skulle anonyma vittnesmål utgöra hot mot rättssäkerheten och anses därmed inte vara motiverat att införa. (Less) - Abstract
- Testimonies are an important part of the judicial process. Testimonies are important in order to create awareness of crimes for authorities, and are also important evidence in court proceedings. During the last years, threats and violence against witnesses have increased, which has led to an insecurity among witnesses. A possible solution that has been discussed for the last 30 years is the possibility to establish anonymous testimonies.
The purpose of the essay is therefore to analyse the problems with allowing anonymous testimonies, with regard to that two different interest must be taken into account, the right to a fair trial and the legal safety. This essay will analyse how the two interests are considered against each other and... (More) - Testimonies are an important part of the judicial process. Testimonies are important in order to create awareness of crimes for authorities, and are also important evidence in court proceedings. During the last years, threats and violence against witnesses have increased, which has led to an insecurity among witnesses. A possible solution that has been discussed for the last 30 years is the possibility to establish anonymous testimonies.
The purpose of the essay is therefore to analyse the problems with allowing anonymous testimonies, with regard to that two different interest must be taken into account, the right to a fair trial and the legal safety. This essay will analyse how the two interests are considered against each other and guaranteed while using an anonymous testimony. The first interest is the right to a fair trial, that is expressed in article 6 ECHR, which means that the defendant is entitled to certain rights during the criminal proceedings. The second interest is the witness’ right to life and safety, a right that may be threatened when the legal safety fails. Both interests are fundamental rights and must be guaranteed. In this essay it will also be investigated if it is motivated to establish the use of anonymous testimonies. Additionally, this essay will analyse if anonymous testimonies would pose a threat to the legal certainty. In order to analyse the problem, an investigation has been made partly of the principle in article 6 ECHR and case law from the European Court of Human Rights and partly an investigation has been made of Swedish legislation, investigations and case law.
It is stated in the essay that there is not enough protection for the witness’ legal safety and that measures must be taken. However, it is reported that anonymous testimonies are not an effective solution, since it in practice not would make a significant improvement of the legal safety. It is also stated that although the European Court of Human Rights has expressed that anonymous testimonies are consistent with article 6 ECHR under certain conditions, an anonymous testimony creates restrictions on the right to a fair trial.
The conclusion is that anonymous testimonies are not an effective solution, and additionally, would not guarantee the right to a fair trial. It would also lead to problems in the predictability in the application of the law, and lead to non-consistent assessments of the principle to a fair trial. Anonymous testimonies would create a threat to the legal certainty and would therefore not be motivated to establish. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8965626
- author
- Larsson, Caroline LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- LAGF03 20182
- year
- 2018
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- processrätt, anonyma vittnesmål, rättstrygghet
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 8965626
- date added to LUP
- 2019-03-13 12:12:42
- date last changed
- 2019-03-13 12:12:42
@misc{8965626,
abstract = {{Testimonies are an important part of the judicial process. Testimonies are important in order to create awareness of crimes for authorities, and are also important evidence in court proceedings. During the last years, threats and violence against witnesses have increased, which has led to an insecurity among witnesses. A possible solution that has been discussed for the last 30 years is the possibility to establish anonymous testimonies.
The purpose of the essay is therefore to analyse the problems with allowing anonymous testimonies, with regard to that two different interest must be taken into account, the right to a fair trial and the legal safety. This essay will analyse how the two interests are considered against each other and guaranteed while using an anonymous testimony. The first interest is the right to a fair trial, that is expressed in article 6 ECHR, which means that the defendant is entitled to certain rights during the criminal proceedings. The second interest is the witness’ right to life and safety, a right that may be threatened when the legal safety fails. Both interests are fundamental rights and must be guaranteed. In this essay it will also be investigated if it is motivated to establish the use of anonymous testimonies. Additionally, this essay will analyse if anonymous testimonies would pose a threat to the legal certainty. In order to analyse the problem, an investigation has been made partly of the principle in article 6 ECHR and case law from the European Court of Human Rights and partly an investigation has been made of Swedish legislation, investigations and case law.
It is stated in the essay that there is not enough protection for the witness’ legal safety and that measures must be taken. However, it is reported that anonymous testimonies are not an effective solution, since it in practice not would make a significant improvement of the legal safety. It is also stated that although the European Court of Human Rights has expressed that anonymous testimonies are consistent with article 6 ECHR under certain conditions, an anonymous testimony creates restrictions on the right to a fair trial.
The conclusion is that anonymous testimonies are not an effective solution, and additionally, would not guarantee the right to a fair trial. It would also lead to problems in the predictability in the application of the law, and lead to non-consistent assessments of the principle to a fair trial. Anonymous testimonies would create a threat to the legal certainty and would therefore not be motivated to establish.}},
author = {{Larsson, Caroline}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Anonyma vittnesmål - avvägningen mellan rättstryggheten och rätten till rättvis rättegång}},
year = {{2018}},
}