In misdemeanour proceedings, the provisions of the General Administrative Procedure Act and the Criminal Procedure Act are applied mutatis mutandis in addition to the special Minor Offences Act, which indicates that these proceedings often link the operation of administrative bodies and judicial authorities. Although misdemeanours are considered as minor norm infringements, the basic guarantees of a fair proceeding available to the individual in the criminal procedure must be ensured; in some cases, these guarantees can be somewhat limited. However, the perpetrator shall not under any circumstances be deprived of the possibility to state the legal and factual aspects of the alleged misdemeanour. Although oral proceedings are not obligatory in misdemeanour proceedings, their purpose is to clarify the situation, which is essential for the appropriate decision on liability of the individual who faces a misdemeanour charge. According to a case law analysis, oral proceedings are more frequently held in cases where the punishment of the perpetrators is based primarily on the police officers’ observation, which means the evidence is obtained by the subjective method. Nevertheless, the perpetrator has to challenge the findings of the misdemeanour body using arguments and, to the extent possible, provide the evidence justifying them because general objections alone are often difficult to use in challenging the authenticity of the findings made by the misdemeanour authority. The perpetrator uses these claims to raise doubts in the mind of the judge about the findings of the misdemeanour authority. In turn, the authority shall need to investigate the factual situation, which is the very purpose of oral proceedings in misdemeanour law.
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