Role of the constitutional courts and ECtHR in shaping negotiated justice mechanisms

Abstract

The article analyses the role of constitutional courts of Germany, France and Italy in shaping negotiated justice mechanisms in these countries with regard to their procedural and – to some extent – substantive fairness as well as the role of the ECtHR in establishing common standards of fairness of such settlements. In each of the analysed countries, as well as in the case law of the EctHR, it was frequently questioned whether institutions similar to plea bargaining are conform to continental constitutional concepts as well as the standard of the fair trial derived from the ECHR. The role of constitutional courts and the ECtHR in shaping fairness of criminal justice settlements has been non-negligible, although differed in compared legal systems: in France and in case of ECtHR it has rather been a controlling one, whereas in Germany and Italy significant tensions between constitutional courts and the legislature as well as lower courts have arisen and had to be resolved.