Beweisverwertungsverbote im Finanzstrafverfahren

This doctoral thesis examines the rules on the inadmissibility of evidence in financial criminal proceedings. The thesis covers both rules on the inadmissibility of evidence of the Austrian criminal procedure code (StPO) and the Austrian law on financial crime (FinStrG) but also deals with the use of evidence obtained in other proceedings. First, a general overview explains the system of the rules on the inadmissibility of evidence. For this purpose, the prohibition on the collection of evidence is distinguished from the prohibition on the use of evidence. It also deals with the extent to which prohibitions on the collection of evidence and the use of evidence are connected as well as the scope of the rules on the inadmissibility of evidence. Subsequently, provisions of the StPO and the FinStrG are analyzed regarding their impact on the law of evidence. This shows that the rules on the use of evidence in the StPO are significantly stricter than those in the FinStrG. Also, case law of the Austrian Constitutional Court, the ECtHR and the CJEU is analyzed with regards to prohibitions on the use of evidence. After comparing provisions regarding the collection and usage of evidence in the StPO and the FinStrG, the final questions are answered as to when evidence may be taken within different stages of the financial criminal proceeding as well as from the tax proceeding into the financial criminal proceeding. The work concludes that, in particular, non-explicit rules prohibiting the use of evidence play a crucial role in maintaining procedural standards.