In the Italian criminal procedure the immediacy of process (that is the relationship between the judge and the evidence) is defined through the scope of application of the most important hearsay rule. That results from the decline of the positivistic conception of the evidence; in fact, the cross-examination has the merit to show to the Court the reaction, even out of the mere speech, of the declarant. Therefore, the immediacy is an additional right of the defendant; it integrates his right to confrontation, if the evidence was collected before a judge that is different from the judge who is called to deliver the judgement. The right to immediacy is a Constitutional right; it can be limited only after a balancing test with other Constitutional rights.
