The principle of contradiction as a general element of the right to a fair procedure in the practice of the criminal court of Serbia and the European court of human rights

Abstract

The task of the criminal procedure defined in terms of clarifying and resolving the main case of a criminal proceedings – criminal matter (causa criminalis) is achieved by the application of legally standardized basic procedural principles. The possibility given to the parties in a criminal proceedings to actively participate in it represents one of the basic features of the accusatory system of criminal proceedings. The principle of contradiction refers to the right of any procedural party to declare itself to the procedural actions of the opposing party before the competent court bases its decision on these procedural actions. The principle of contradiction is one of the general elements of the right to a fair trial. Therefore, the right of contradiction (contradicere) opposing the allegations of the other party is, together with the principle of immediacy, in a direct function of achieving the principle of a fair trial in our legal system. It is present during the whole criminal proceedings, but it mostly becomes prominent to expressing the evidence at the main trial. The Code of Criminal Procedure of Republic of Serbia has explicitly not envisaged the principle of contradiction. However, in addition of being involved in the main trial, as the main phase of the criminal proceedings, this principle extends through the entire criminal procedure, both the first instance and the second instance. Although not explicitly proclaimed in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the principle of contradiction has developed in the practice of the European Court of Human Rights as a general element of the right to a fair trial.