64 GÄFGEN v. GERMANY JUDGMENT – SEPARATE OPINIONS 10. The Court has repeatedly stated that Article 3 is an absolute right and that no derogation from it is permissible under Article 15 § 2 – even in the event of a public emergency1. Being absolute, all violations thereof are serious and, in our view, the most effective way of guaranteeing that absolute prohibition is a strict application of the exclusionary rule when it comes to Article 6. Such an approach would leave State agents who are tempted to perpetrate inhuman treatment in no doubt as to the futility of engaging in such prohibited conduct. It would deprive them of any potential incentive or inducement for treating suspects in a manner that is inconsistent with Article 3. 11. We are mindful of the consequences that flow from a strict application of the exclusionary rule where violations of Article 3 are concerned. We recognise that, at times, often reliable and compelling evidence may have to be excluded and that the effect upon the prosecution of a crime may thereby be compromised. Furthermore, the exclusion of such evidence may result in an accused person receiving a lighter sentence than he or she might otherwise have received. However, where this occurs the ultimate responsibility for any such “advantage” to the accused lies, firmly, with the State authorities whose agents, irrespective of their motivation, permitted the perpetration of inhuman treatment and thereby risked compromising the subsequent conduct of criminal proceedings. 12. We are also cognisant of the fact that victims of crime, their families and the public at large all have an interest in the prosecution and punishment of those who engage in criminal activities. However, in our view, there is an equally vital, compelling and competing public interest in the preservation of the values of civilised societies founded upon the rule of law. In such societies, recourse to subjecting individuals to inhuman or degrading treatment, regardless of its purpose, can never be permitted. There is, in addition, a critical public interest in ensuring and maintaining the integrity of the judicial process and the admission into a trial of evidence obtained in violation of an absolute human right would undermine and jeopardise the integrity of that process. In our view, criminal activity may not be investigated nor an individual’s conviction secured at the cost of undermining the absolute right not to be subjected to inhuman treatment as guaranteed under Article 3. To hold otherwise would involve sacrificing core values and bringing the administration of justice into disrepute. 13. As with the majority, we acknowledge that the State agents in this case acted in a difficult and highly charged situation. This does not, however, alter the fact that they obtained, by a breach of Article 3, real evidence which was subsequently used and relied upon at the criminal trial 1. See, inter alia, Chahal v. the United Kingdom, 15 November 1996, § 79, Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1996-V; V. v. the United Kingdom [GC], no. 24888/94, § 69, ECHR 1999-IX; Ramirez Sanchez v. France [GC], no. 59450/00, § 116, ECHR 2006-IX; and Saadi v. Italy [GC], no. 37201/06, § 127, ECHR 2008.