Suppressing the Truth: Judicial Exclusion of Illegally Obtained Evidence in the United States, Canada, England and Australia
AbstractThis paper reviews the way in which the representative democracies of the United States, Canada, England and Australia deal with the problem of illegally obtained evidence. It traces the development of the relevant jurisprudence in each jurisdiction, critically analyses each methodology and evaluates how successfully each criminal justice system has met the particular policy objectives which underlay each exclusionary practice. The author discusses the various alternatives to excluding illegally obtained evidence at trial, and proposes an innovative civil administrative remedy which seeks to satisfy the policy objectives of all jurisdictions without distorting the judicial process and suppressing the truth. |