This approach sees procedures as essentially sporting contests in which the rules of fair play must necessarily apply. According to Pound, “if an offence is discovered in the course of the proceedings, just as in the case of a football match – where five or ten yards are taken back from the offending team – the criminal proceedings must be allowed to be subject to the possibility of a new trial, of setting aside the conviction, or of any protest or reservation to maintain due process.” 3

I would like to note at the outset that in the US evidence system, many legal instruments are not regulated by law, such as the polygraph examination,4 which is derived from it, or the “cross-examination” system which is the basis of the trial system.5

The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that “in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall have the right to be confronted by witnesses against him.” This is not, however, a question of confrontation in the continental sense, but of the right to question witnesses and to check their reliability.6