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the interests of a fair trial to permit as a rule the use of unreliable evidence obtained through
illegal means. The Accused should be permitted to adduce evidence that he asserts is
exculpatory, but not at the expense of the integrity of the proceedings. IOO Therefore, the
Chamber considers that the exclusionary rule in Article 15 applies to all parties to this case,
including the NUON Chea Defence and torture-tainted evidence which it asserts to be
exculpatory.
48. The Supreme Court Chamber, while not reaching a final conclusion on the issue, leaves
open the possibility that "[a]n exception could potentially arise in situations of extreme
necessity, based on the combined factors of the provenience of evidence, its reliability, its
overwhelming exonerating value and its uniqueness [ ... J". In this regard, the Supreme Court
Chamber sets an extraordinarily high standard to permit the Accused to use evidence obtained
through torture. The Trial Chamber has concluded, consistent with the European Court for
Human Rights, the Inter-American Court for Human Rights and the UN Special Rapporteur
for torture, that the exclusionary rule is a non-derogable obligation. As such, it applies to all
parties in these proceedings, including the Accused. In any event, the Chamber is not satisfied
that based on all of the circumstances here, the Accused has established that precluding his
proposed uses of torture-tainted evidence, such as those summarised in section 5.5.2, would
create a "flagrant denial of justice." 101
5.4. Application and Breadth of the Exclusionary Rule
49. As a preliminary point, the Supreme Court Chamber has held that "Article 15 of the
CAT does not [ ... ] mandate the sweeping exclusion of the whole documentation surrounding
the interrogation of the torture victim" and that "information originating from persons other
than the torture victim" may be used.10 2 The Trial Chamber considers that certain objective
information contained on confessions is not part of the statement obtained through torture and
therefore not covered by the exclusionary rule in Article 15 of the CAT. These may include
information concerning the recorded identity of the detainee subject to interrogation, his or
her date of arrest, incarceration, and/or execution which were recorded either during
statement in question had already been admitted into evidence. See R v. Vagaia, HC AK CRI 2006-092-16228
[200S] NZHC 306,11 March 200S, para. 15 (available at: FI6.1.6).
100 A and Others, paras 39, 52 ("The principles of the common law, standing alone, in my opinion compel the
exclusion of third party torture evidence as unreliable, unfair, offensive to ordinary standards of humanity and
decency and incompatible with the principles which should animate a tribunal seeking to administer justice.").
101 SCC Decision, paras 64-65. TC Decision, supra. para. 25.
102 SCC Decision, para. 6S.
Decision on Evidence Obtained through Torture, Public, 5 February 2016
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