| Abstract [eng] |
Witness Immunity in Criminal Procedure. Witness immunity is one of the most important evidentiary rules, due to the fact, that it directly influences the process of information, which can be later used as evidence in court, gathering. This paper reveals a complex analysis of witness immunities established in the CCP. The use of historical and linguistic methods helps to reveal the roots and current understanding of the witness immunity institute. The analysis of European Court of Human Rights litigation and its comparison to Lithuanian courts litigation is presented to determine, if current criminal procedure mechanisms agrees to international human rights standards. Moreover, it is analyzed how these international standards affect witness immunities on national and international level. This is achieved by analyzing procedural rules of witnessing immunities of foreign countries (United Kingdom, France and Turkey), international ad hoc tribunals and the International Criminal Court. This paper proposes that the definitions of family members in CC and CCP should be the same; professional relationship between a person and his/her legal counsel should be waived when the person consents to disclosure or has voluntarily disclosed the content of the communication to a third party; norms regulating witness immunity of legal representatives should be revised; CCP list of witness immunities could be broadened to include medical doctor – patient, psychiatrist/psychologist/counsellor – client, notary – client witness immunities and clearer rules regulating state secrets privilege. |
