Chapter 1
GENERAL PROVISIONS

§ 15. Direct and oral court hearing

(1) A decision of a county court may be based only on evidence which has been presented and directly examined in the court hearing and recorded in the minutes.
[RT I, 23.02.2011, 1 - entry into force 01.09.2011]

(2) A decision of a circuit court may be based on :

1) evidence which has been orally presented and directly examined in a court hearing by the circuit court and recorded in the minutes ;
2) evidence which has been directly examined in the county court and disclosed in appeal proceedings.

(3) A decision shall not be based solely or predominantly on the testimony of a person declared anonymous in accordance with § 67 of this Code, evidence which direct source the accused or counsel was unable to question, or the testimony of the person specified in subsection 66 (21).
[RT I, 23.02.2011, 1 - entry into force 01.09.2011]

Chapter 3
PROOF

Division 1
General Conditions for Proof and Taking of Evidence

§ 63. Evidence

(1) Evidence means the statements of a suspect, accused, victim, the testimony of a witness, an expert's report, the statements given by an expert upon provision of explanations concerning the expert's report, physical evidence, reports on investigative activities, minutes of court sessions and reports on surveillance activities, and other documents, photographs, films or other data recordings.
[RT I, 29.06.2012, 2 - entry into force 01.01.2013]

(1 1) Submission of information collected pursuant to the Security Authorities Act as evidence in criminal proceedings shall be decided by the Chief Public Prosecutor taking into account the restrictions specified in subsections 1261 (2) and 1267 (2) of this Code.
[RT I, 29.06.2012, 2 - entry into force 01.01.2013]

(2) Evidence not listed in subsection (1) of this section may also be used in order to prove the facts relating to a criminal proceeding, except in the case the evidence has been obtained by a criminal offence or violation of a fundamental right.
[RT I, 23.02.2011, 1 - entry into force 01.09.2011]

§ 64. General conditions for taking of evidence

(1) Evidence shall be taken in a manner which is not prejudicial to the honour and dignity of the persons participating in the taking of the evidence, does not endanger their life or health or cause unjustified proprietary damage. Evidence shall not be taken by torturing a person or using violence against him or her in any other manner or by means affecting a person's memory capacity or degrading his or her human dignity.

(2) If it is necessary to undress a person in the course of a search, physical examination or taking of comparative samples, the official of the investigative body, the prosecutor and the participants in the procedural act, except health care professionals and forensic pathologists shall be of the same sex as the person.

(3) If technical equipment is used in the course of taking of evidence, the participants in the procedural act shall be notified thereof in advance and the objective of using the technical equipment shall be explained to them.

(4) [Repealed - RT I, 23.02.2011, 1 - entry into force 01.09.2011]

(5) If necessary, participants in a procedural act shall be warned that disclosure of information relating to pre-trial proceedings is prohibited in accordance with § 214 of this Code.

(6) The taking of evidence by surveillance activities is regulated by Chapter 31 of this Code.
[RT I, 29.06.2012, 2 - entry into force 01.01.2013]

§ 65. Evidence obtained from ships during voyages and from foreign states

(1) Evidence taken in a foreign state pursuant to the legislation of such state may be used in a criminal proceeding conducted in Estonia unless the procedural acts performed in order to obtain the evidence are in conflict with the principles of Estonian criminal procedure taking into account the specifications provided for in subsection (2) of this section.

(2) If the object of the criminal proceeding is an act of a person serving in the Defence Force committed outside the Republic of Estonia, evidence taken in a foreign state may be used in a criminal proceeding unless the procedural acts performed in order to obtain the evidence are in conflict with the principles of the Estonian criminal procedure regardless of the fact of whether the procedural act was conducted on the basis of a request for assistance or not.

(3) If an act to which the Estonian Penal Code applies is committed on board of a ship during a voyage, the documents prepared by the master of the ship pursuant to § 73 of the Merchant Shipping Code are the evidence in the criminal proceedings.
[RT I, 23.02.2011, 1 - entry into force 01.09.2011]