Overview of anti-torture legislation in Latin America and the Caribbean IV. The Exclusionary Rule in criminal procedure The exclusionary rule is provided by Article 15 of the UNCAT and Article 10 of the IACCPT. The principle establishes that States may not use information obtained by torture.79 In the region, the States with civil law legal systems have provisions regarding the exclusion of evidence obtained as a result of torture in criminal proceedings. The source for the exclusionary rule in countries from common law traditions is mixed. The Caribbean States’ approaches to the exclusionary rule vary between constitutional guarantees through case law, and/or through national legislation such as Evidence Acts. In the common law, there is a general rule that torture-tainted evidence is to be excluded. 80In Barbados, the Evidence Act provides that evidence will not be admitted unless the court is satisfied that the admissions, and the making of the admission, were not influenced by violent, oppressive, inhuman or degrading conduct. The Constitution of Argentina entitles that every defendant has the right against selfincrimination.81 According to the Constitution, this right excludes the possibility that confessions are extracted under coercion. In addition, the Supreme Court has stated that “giving probative value to a crime and base it in a judicial sentence not only is contradictory, it jeopardizes the proper administration of justice”. 82 The Bolivian Criminal Procedure Code expressly states that evidence obtained through torture, ill-treatment, abuse, coercion, threats, or violation of fundamental rights, lacks probative value.83 In Brazil, the Constitution of 1988 provides that evidence obtained under torture is unacceptable during criminal proceedings.84 In 2001, the CAT showed concern due to the absence in Brazilian legislation of an explicit prohibition on any statement obtained through torture being accepted as evidence in judicial proceedings.85 Article 156, of the Act N° 11,690 incorporated into the Criminal Procedure Code 2008,86 the APT/CTI Guide on anti-torture legislation Page: 37 – 41 Primary elements National legislation is to exclude explicitly evidence obtained by torture in all proceedings. National legislation is to reflect that the exclusionary rule applies to all forms of evidence. inadmissibility of illegal evidence obtained through constitutional rights violations. The Brazilian Criminal Procedure Code also recognizes two exclusionary rule exceptions: the attenuation and the independent source exceptions.87 79 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Article 55 (1)(b). Another rule of evidence in the common law is that judges have discretion to exclude evidence where its probative value is outweighed by its prejudicial effect. 81 Article 18 Constitution of Argentina. 82 Supreme Court of Argentina, “Montenegro, Luciano Bernardino” (10 December 1981). 83 Article 13 Legality of Obtaining Evidence and Article 172 (Exclusionary , Criminal Procedure Code of Bolivia (1999) 84 Article 5 (55) Constitution of Brazil (1988). 85 CAT, Report of the Committee against Torture, UN Doc A/56/44 (2001 86 Presidência da República, Article 156, Lei N° 11.690, de Junho de 2008, available at: http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2007-2010/2008/lei/l11690.htm. 87 The independent source doctrine is an exception to the exclusionary rule. The doctrine applies to evidence initially discovered during, or as a consequence of, an un awful search. The attenuation exception permits the use of evidence 80 17