Witness Evidence and Video Documentary Sequence

Abstract

In these pages, we analyze the possible violation of the principle of contradiction and, consequently, the right of a procedure with all the guarantees and the right to defense by those accused of rebellion and sedition at the trial of the facts happened in Catalonia between September and October 2017. In particular, we review the decision of the court of not exhibiting the video documentary evidence at the same time that the witnesses testify in order to contrast the veracity of their declarations with the content of the videos. To do so, we assess the possibilities that the Act of Criminal Procedure offers to the parts (and the court) to corroborate the witnesses' declarations at the hearings and if that pretended by the parts was necessary to conform the judicial decision, besides if the non-realization could affect the procedural fundamental rights