Criminal liability for unlawful collection of information on private life of a person: problematic aspects, links with divorce proceedings

ENAs the social environment develops, as science and technology improve, more and more attention in the evidentiary process is paid to the data obtained by using special knowledge. Without such data, the investigation of certain criminal acts or even making a final decision is unimaginable. It is important to realize that the evaluation of data obtained by using special knowledge, precisely because of its specificity, requires greater care, because data obtained by using special knowledge (forensic science) should be considered as personal evidence obtained by a person who had no (in)direct personal contact with the criminal act under investigation and the judge has the duty to assess the result based on certain special knowledge that he does not personally have. The analysis performed has shown that (first of all) the provisions of the case-law regarding the assessment of the conclusions obtained using special knowledge on the basis of private initiative provide reasonable grounds to consider the fact that, unfortunately, there is a derogation from the provisions of the principle of free assessment of evidence. It can also be assumed (secondly) that in the absence of factors determining the insufficient quality and reliability of the conclusion, the conclusion obtained and submitted by a private participant in criminal proceedings by way of the neutralizing mechanism should continue to be assessed as an advisory conclusion. Keywords: special knowledge, reliability of evidence, conclusion of the private expert. [From the publication]