The Disappearing Trial require sentencing judges to follow the joint recommendations of parties on sentencing, while in others, such as Australia, judges maintain more discretion over sentencing (although discounts are systematic and predictable in practice). Further, in some jurisdictions, it is sometimes possible to receive a sentence indication from the judge so that parties can better anticipate the ultimate result of negotiations, as is the case in New Zealand. 83. Some commentators have drawn a strong distinction between sentence or charge incentives as practised in many common law jurisdictions, and the abbreviated trials more often associated with European systems95 (with Germany as the most frequently cited example). In the abbreviated trial model, which featured in 17 of the studied jurisdictions (though it was not the exclusive form of trial waiver system in each one), the waiver of rights generally involves less negotiation between parties, more regulated sentencing discounts, and greater judicial oversight over procedure and evidential requirements as opposed to other types of trial waiver systems. 84. Some jurisdictions, such as Chile, which have introduced trial waiver systems more recently, have attempted to combine elements of varying existing types. When considering whether or not to adopt a trial waiver system, Chile’s Constitutional Commission (the Commission) drafted a report which involved comparative examples of different systems worldwide. The Commission identified two major types of trial waiver system: the “North American system, where the defendant is asked if he pleads guilty or not” and “the European system that refers only to the proceeding, where the defendant remains innocent but accepts to renounce his right to an oral trial.”96 The Commission went on to claim that the European system “has not worked in practice, because the sentence reduction is minimum and the investigation is too rigid.”97 Instead, it suggested a hybrid model in which the defendant pleads guilty, but the prosecutor must provide additional evidence to support the charges. E. Jurisdictions without trial waiver systems 85. It is also worth noting that not all of the jurisdictions surveyed have trial waiver systems, as defined for the purpose of the research. In 24 jurisdictions out of the 90 surveyed, no practice falling within the definition was identified. Portugal is an example of a jurisdiction in which, after trial waivers (known as “negotiated sentence agreements”) had been tolerated for some time, the Supreme Court overtly prohibited these as unconstitutional through a judgment in 2013.98 The Supreme Court found that not only does Portuguese criminal procedure law prohibit negotiated sentence agreements, but that it is, more broadly, forbidden to produce evidence of the defendant’s confession obtained in return for the promise of reduced punishment by the Public Prosecutor. This decision was based mainly on an interpretation of the Portuguese constitutional understanding of the separation of powers, which holds that it is the Public Prosecutor’s job to investigate and prosecute, and the judge’s job to pass judgment and impose punishment. As a consequence of that ruling, the General Prosecutor issued a directive to all prosecutors prohibiting them from engaging in any trial waivers. 86. Despite the fact that trial waivers per se are prohibited, Portugal nonetheless permits a variety of mechanisms for diversion of cases that do not conform to the given definition of trial waiver systems (due to the fact that they do not result in a criminal conviction), but nonetheless seek to deal with criminal accusations using means other than a full trial. 95. Alkon, “Plea Bargaining as a Legal Transplant”, supra at n. 10, pp. 384–386. 96. “Historia de la ley No. 19.696: Establece Código Procesal Penal”, Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile (Oct. 12, 2000), p. 1541. 97. Ibid, pp. 1541–1542. 98. Crown Court: Decisão Soanes, 1948; Caso Coward, 1979. Tribunal De Recurso No Caso Hollintong And Emmmens, De 1986. Tribunal Constitucional Alemão: – Nstz 87, 419. Available at: http://www.dgsi.pt/jstj.nsf/954f0ce6ad9dd8b980256b5f003fa814/533bc8aa516702b980257b4e003281f0?OpenDocument. 43.

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