Normative regulation of witness immunity in international law

Regulación normativa de la inmunidad de testigos en la legislación internacional

• Yevhen Priakhin Lviv State University of Internal Affairs, Lviv, Ukraine. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6146-6697
• Andrii Lytvyn National Police of the Volyn Region, Volyn Region, Ukraine. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6483-7569
• Nataliia Kononenko National Academy of Internal Affairs, Kyiv, Ukraine. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0298-3958
• Yevdokiia Buzhdyhanchuk National Academy of Internal Affairs, Kyiv, Ukraine. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0389-1641
• Irina Dubivka National Police of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7189-3630

DOI: https://doi.org/10.46398/cuestpol.4072.11

Keywords: criminal proceedings, witness, witness immunity, testimony, guarantees

Abstract

Through materialist dialectics, the article is dedicated to the study and solution of theoretical and practical questions related to the right of a person not to declare or give explanations about himself, his relatives, or close relatives. Interested here was the thorough review of the doctrinal sources of this right, the meaning and methodology of its research, the concept and content of the right of a person not to testify, the peculiarities of this right in Ukraine and in the world, its legislation, as well as its guarantee of implementation. In addition, based on the analysis of the legislation of each country, the authors identify the characteristics of the guarantee, analyze the theoretical aspects and the practical problems of granting the police and judicial authorities the right not to declare or give explanations about themselves. It is concluded that the immunity of witnesses means a set of rules that exempts certain groups of witnesses from the obligation to testify in criminal proceedings, as well as from the obligation of the witness to testify against himself. In this sense, immunity for a witness is divided into two types of imperatives: (absolute, unconditional) and device (relative, conditional).

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