14 SAUNDERS v. UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT (a) by oppression of the person who made it; or (b) in consequence of anything said or done which was likely, in the circumstances existing at the time, to render unreliable any confession which might be made by him in consequence thereof, the court shall not allow the confession to be given in evidence against him except in so far as the prosecution proves to the court beyond a reasonable doubt that the confession (notwithstanding that it might be true) was not obtained as aforesaid ..." 52. Section 78 provides as relevant: "1. In any proceedings the court may refuse to allow the evidence on which the prosecution proposes to rely to be given if it appears to the court that, having regard to all the circumstances, including the circumstances in which the evidence was obtained, the admission of the evidence would have such an adverse effect on the fairness of the proceedings that the court ought not to admit it." 53. Under section 82 (1) of PACE a "‘confession’ includes any statement wholly or partly adverse to the person who made it, whether made to a person in authority or not and whether made in words or otherwise". 54. The Criminal Justice Act 1987 confers on the Director of the Serious Fraud Office special powers to assist him in the investigation and prosecution of serious fraud. Section 2 (2) requires a person whose affairs are being investigated to answer questions even if by so doing he might incriminate himself. Failure to answer may give rise to criminal sanctions (section 2 (13)). Answers in this context cannot be used in evidence against a suspect unless he is prosecuted for failure, without reasonable excuse, to answer questions or unless he makes a statement in evidence which is inconsistent with a previous answer (section 2 (8)). PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COMMISSION 55. The applicant lodged his application (no. 19187/91) with the Commission on 20 July 1988. He complained that the use at his trial of statements made by him to the DTI inspectors under their compulsory powers deprived him of a fair hearing in violation of Article 6 para. 1 of the Convention (art. 6-1). 56. On 7 December 1993 the Commission declared the applicant’s complaint admissible. In its report of 10 May 1994 it expressed the opinion that there had been a violation of Article 6 para. 1 of the Convention (art. 6-1) (fourteen votes to one). The full text of the Commission’s opinion and of the two separate opinions contained in the report is reproduced as an annex to this judgment3 3 For practical reasons this annex will appear only with the printed version of the judgment (in Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1996-VI), but a copy of the Commission's report is obtainable from the registry.