| Abstract [eng] |
This master’s thesis aims to discuss the peculiarities of the Institute of the Special Witness: the development in the law of criminal procedure in Lithuania, the concept, the grounds for the acquisition and termination of the status, the possible duration, finding out according to which criteria the Institute of the Special witness is to be distinguished from the institutes of the suspect and witness and to discuss the relevant problems of the application of the Institute of the special witness. In the preparation of the master's thesis and to disclose its topic in the best possible way, sources of international and national law, legal doctrine, and articles published by Lithuanian and foreign lawyers were used. This work discusses the historical development of the special witness. It is discussed that the main reason for which the legislator established the institute of the special witness was the desire to avoid the violation of the person’s right of not incriminating himself. The thesis also discusses the similarity of the special witness to the institutes in force in the French and Italian criminal procedure law, compares the scope of their rights, the possibilities of applying measures of criminal effect, and analyzes the problems of application that arise in Lithuania and abroad. It is discussed that the inconsistent legal regulation of the special witness creates a space for abuse of laws and creates legal uncertainty. In the work, possible variants of the duration of the status of a special witness and the grounds for acquiring it are discussed in this way, pointing out that these issues are regulated in more detail in the recommendations of the Prosecutor General, which provide that a person acquires the status of a special witness after the adoption of a reasoned resolution by the prosecutor and there are three possible variants of the duration of the status of a special witness (as short a time as possible; until it is decided to examine the special witness in accordance with the general procedure; Until the end of the pre-trial investigation). The work also analyzes the correlation between the special witness and the suspect and the witness. After discussing the rights characteristic of the special witness, such as the right to have a representative, the right to lie, to refuse to testify, to refuse to be questioned, the analysis carried out concludes that the institute of the special witness is closer to the suspect and can be called a factual suspect. |
