Viktor Bérces: Evidence in Criminal Proceedings
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Chapter I. Paradigm shifts in the development of evidence in universal law
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1.7. The Anglo-Saxon jurisdictions
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1.7.2. US case law

1.7.2. US case law

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The jury system has been present in US jurisprudence from the beginning, in both civil and criminal cases. By the end of the 17th century, trained lawyers with knowledge of the common law were practising in some regions.

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The most important achievement in the development of American law is the Constitution of the United States of America (1787), which has a twofold purpose: firstly, to provide a framework for the interpretation of judicial precedents, as it does today, and secondly, with its periodic amendments, to gradually establish the principles of criminal procedural law and fundamental freedoms. The following should be highlighted:

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  • the rules guaranteeing pre-trial detention,
  • jury trials in criminal proceedings (except in cases of so-called “public prosecutions”, where Parliament acts);
  • criminal cases are heard by national courts, except for serious crimes where the Constitution or federal law confers jurisdiction on federal courts; lower national courts of appeal are the high courts; courts of appeal decide only on points of law and sometimes have multi-state jurisdiction;
  • criminal cases must, as a general rule, be brought in the courts of the country where the offence was committed;
  • an adverse legal action may only be taken on the basis of a legal (judicial) procedure;
  • uniform interpretation of federal law is guaranteed by the US Supreme Court;
  • the general rule is the principle of indictment, which may be derogated from only in very limited circumstances (in time of war or public danger, in the performance of official duties); in criminal proceedings for capital or other serious offences, the accused has the right to be tried by a larger body, the grand jury;
  • the principle of ne bis in idem and the prohibition of self-incrimination apply;
  • the accused has the right to an impartial trial, a trial by jury, a speedy trial, publicity, information, defence, a precise definition of the rules of jurisdiction and defence;
  • witnesses for the defence must be called by compulsory process; the accused must be confronted with witnesses for the prosecution during the evidentiary procedure; in the case of the crime of treason, the testimony of two witnesses, based on direct and consistent perception, and the confession of the accused in open court may be admitted as conclusive evidence;
  • rules prohibiting the use of excessive bail or fines and cruel and unusual punishment;
  • the requirement to apply uniform rules of criminal procedure to the territories of the United States that were not previously part of the British colonial empire.1
 

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The application of the common law was facilitated by the National Reporter System, a collection of judicial decisions published continuously since 1887. The need for codification from the mid-19th century onwards led to the creation of various sources of law: (1) the draft New York State Code of Criminal Procedure (1850), (2) the Canadian Substantive and Procedural Codes (Dominion Criminal Code and Bill of Rights Code). 2
1 Miskolcziné (2015) ibid. 35–37.
2 Ákos Farkas – Erika Róth: A büntetőeljárás. [The criminal procedure.] Budapest, Complex, 2007. 31.
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