Summary

At the beginning of the judicial investigation, the defence counsel’s opinion should indicate to what extent they intend to raise objections to the charges and which allegations and positions presented in the indictment will not be contested. The defence counsel should not deliberately mislead the prosecution in such a manner that they alter the positions previously expressed in the defence statement during the judicial investigation without a valid reason.

The defence counsel should consider that the significance of evidence is a factor justifying the admissibility of evidence and the necessity of collecting such evidence. Therefore, it is important that when submitting an application for evidence, the defence counsel also justifies the relevance of the evidence.

For each piece of evidence, the defence counsel should verify whether the evidence presented by the prosecutor is admissible or whether there is any aspect that casts doubt on the admissibility of the evidence. If the defence counsel identifies any circumstances indicating a violation of procedural law in the collection of evidence, they should request the exclusion of that evidence from the collection of evidence during the judicial investigation.

During cross-examination, the defence counsel should request the exclusion of questions posed by the prosecutor during direct examination that are obviously excessively leading. For clarity, the law could specify that questions posed for the purpose of facilitating smoother interrogation, which are clearly excessively leading, are inappropriate, and the court may, upon the request of a party to the proceedings, exclude such questions.