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Recording of Phone Conversations

marbella-lawyers.com
1st of April 2000

According to the Spanish Constitutional Tribunal and the Supreme Court the right to the secrecy of communications, can not generate a horizontal effect, that is, between private persons, so that it imposes a duty of silence between them. Therefore, to contend that evidence procured in consequence of a private telephonic conversation violates any constitutional right is not admissible and has no legal support across the EU.

Thus, tape-recordings of incriminating telephone conversations tapped by a party to a criminal or civil proceeding will be admitted by a court of law. Both high courts contend that attempting to extend the protection the laws give to private persons against the illegal intrusion of the public powers is excessive and cannot be acepted. In other words, the right to privacy cannot be applied to conversations held by two private persons recorded by one of them.

Where the tapping is the work of the police acting without due authorisation will no doubt raise a claim that the evidence has been ilegally obtained and therefore will be considered as ilegally obtained evidence and not admissible in a court of law.



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