SAUNDERS v. UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT 21 interpretation of the intended impact of the material is supported by the remarks made by the trial judge in the course of the voir dire concerning the eighth and ninth interviews to the effect that each of the applicant’s statements was capable of being a "confession" for the purposes of section 82 (1) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (see paragraph 53 above). Similarly, the Court of Appeal considered that the interviews formed "a significant part" of the prosecution’s case against the applicant (see paragraph 40 above). Moreover, there were clearly instances where the statements were used by the prosecution to incriminating effect in order to establish the applicant’s knowledge of payments to persons involved in the share-support operation and to call into question his honesty (see paragraph 31 above). They were also used by counsel for the applicant’s co-accused to cast doubt on the applicant’s version of events (see paragraph 32 above). In sum, the evidence available to the Court supports the claim that the transcripts of the applicant’s answers, whether directly self-incriminating or not, were used in the course of the proceedings in a manner which sought to incriminate the applicant. 73. Both the applicant and the Commission maintained that the admissions contained in the interviews must have exerted additional pressure on the applicant to give testimony during the trial rather than to exercise his right to remain silent. However, it was the Government’s view that the applicant chose to give evidence because of the damaging effect of the testimony of the chief witness for the prosecution, Mr Roux. Although it cannot be excluded that one of the reasons which affected this decision was the extensive use made by the prosecution of the interviews, the Court finds it unnecessary to speculate on the reasons why the applicant chose to give evidence at his trial. 74. Nor does the Court find it necessary, having regard to the above assessment as to the use of the interviews during the trial, to decide whether the right not to incriminate oneself is absolute or whether infringements of it may be justified in particular circumstances. It does not accept the Government’s argument that the complexity of corporate fraud and the vital public interest in the investigation of such fraud and the punishment of those responsible could justify such a marked departure as that which occurred in the present case from one of the basic principles of a fair procedure. Like the Commission, it considers that the general requirements of fairness contained in Article 6 (art. 6), including the right not to incriminate oneself, apply to criminal proceedings in respect of all types of criminal offences without distinction from the most simple to the most complex. The public interest cannot be invoked to justify the use of answers compulsorily obtained in a non-judicial investigation to incriminate the accused during the trial proceedings. It is noteworthy in this respect that under the relevant legislation statements obtained under