Admissibility of holding a hearing in the absence of the defendant and defence councel pursuant to article 378a of the criminal procedure code in the context of the constitutional right to defence

Abstract

The amendment from 19th July 2019 introduced to the criminal procedure code article 378a, which allows conducting the trial and the hearing of evidence in the absence of both defendant and defence councel, also in the event that the absence is excused. This regulation, whose intended purpose was to streamline the course of proceedings, raises far-reaching concerns, taking into account the constitutional right to defence. The aim of the study is to analyse the compliance of the introduced amendment with article 42 section 2 and article 31 section 3 of the Constitution, as well as to indicate the consequences of introducing the provision in relation to the process of applying law.