Rigorous proof
Strict evidence is a term from procedural law and denotes the establishment of facts by a court in a formalized procedure with limited evidence . The opposite is the free evidence , in which the factual determination may be made with all means deemed necessary by the court and largely without formal requirements.
For contentious party claims, the German and Austrian Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO) order the strict evidence procedure and allow as evidence in this respect
- the experts ,
- the inspection ,
- the certificate ,
- the witnesses and
- possibly the party approval .
The German Code of Criminal Procedure writes the strict proof also for the determination of the facts which affect the course of events fact, the guilt of the perpetrator or the amount of punishment ( guilt - and criminal question ). It allows the same evidence as the ZPO, with the exception of the party hearing (since the criminal process is not a process in which parties to a legal dispute face each other on an equal footing), and knows more about it
- the admission and
- the confession of the accused . A confession is always based on a statement by the accused. As evidence in criminal proceedings in accordance with Section 244 of the Code of Criminal Procedure only takes place after the defendant has been questioned, the confession is not evidence in the narrower sense.
Other circumstances, such as the existence of admissibility requirements in civil proceedings or the requirements for issuing an arrest warrant in preliminary proceedings , can be determined by the judge in free evidence, ie in any way.
