Article 111

Jurisdiction shall be exercised through due process of law. All trials shall be conducted by means of adversarial proceedings between the parties, under equal conditions, before an impartial judge in a third-party position. The law shall ensure the reasonable duration of trials. In criminal trials, the law shall ensure that persons accused of a crime be notified confidentially and within the shortest delay of the nature and reasons of the charges against them; that they be allowed the time and conditions needed to prepare their defence; that they have, before a judge, the right to examine persons testifying against them or have them examined, and to obtain that persons testifying for the defence be summoned and examined under the same conditions as the prosecution and that any other form of evidence in their favour be produced; and that they be assisted by an interpreter if they do not understand or speak the language of the trial. In criminal trials, evidence shall be adduced in adversarial proceedings. The defendant may not be found guilty on the basis of statements by persons who, of their own free choice, have always deliberately refused to be examined by the defendant or the defence counsel. The law shall regulate the cases in which evidence may be adduced forgoing adversarial proceedings, either with the consent of the defendant or due to established objective impossibility or proven illicit conduct. All judicial measures shall include a statement of reasons. Appeals to the Court of Cassation shall always be admissible, on grounds of breach of law, against judgments or measures restraining personal liberty issued by ordinary or special courts. This rule may be waived only in the case of judgments issued by military tribunals in time of war. Appeals to the Court of Cassation against decisions of the Council of State and the Court of Auditors shall be admissible only for reasons relating to jurisdiction.