a formal motion to exclude forced confessions that the court reviews at trial (Amnesty
International. No End in Sight: Torture and Forced Confessions in China (2015) pgs. 38-39).
Ways forward
Recognising that the independence of the legal profession is an essential guarantee for the protection
and promotion of human rights and, specifically, the implementation of the exclusionary rule, States
must ensure that judges, prosecutors and defence lawyers can conduct their work without
intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference (see, e.g., UN Basic Principles on the
Independence of the Judiciary (1985) [2, 4]).
States should also adopt clear legislation, directives, codes of practice, instructions and guidance on
procedures and mechanisms to identify, challenge, determine admissibility and exclude torturetainted evidence. Sharing examples of best practice and lessons learnt on the Atlas of Torture Exchange
Platform is welcome in this regard.
Said national laws, policies and practices should be readily known to, inter alia, judges, prosecutors
and defence lawyers and should be fully implemented in practice. In this regard, human rights courts
and bodies have required States to provide training to legal professionals on identifying and
investigating forced confessions (see, e.g., UN Committee against Torture. Concluding Observations
on Cambodia (20 January 2011) [28]), which can serve as a guarantee of non-repetition (InterAmerican Court of Human Rights. García Cruz and Sánchez Silvestre v. Mexico. Judgment: Merits,
Reparations and Costs (November 2013) [92-93]).
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