Interrogation of witnesses and the victim

Interrogation of the witness and the victim is procedural conversation, during which the investigator learns all the facts of interest for the circumstances of the committed atrocity, then fixes all the information in the protocol in order to later use it as evidence of the suspect's guilt. These persons are called to give testimony only by a summons, which must be handed to them personally or received by these citizens through the administration from their place of work or study.

Witness

They are summoned for procedural interview to the investigator only on the agenda, which specifies the reasons for which a person must come, as well as the consequences of his non-appearance. A witness is a person who knows of any circumstances of the crime being investigated. Before the citizen will give evidence, he must be warned about the responsibility for false information.

Interrogation of witnesses can not last more than four hours in a row, so it is necessary to take a break for an hour. After that the investigator will be able to continue the conversation with the person. It should also be noted here that the survey of these individuals can not last more than eight hours a day.

Interrogation of witnesses can be conducted both in the presence of the defender, and without his procedural assistance. In addition, persons under the age of sixteen should be interviewed only in the presence of their parents or educators. The lawyer in this case can consult and help to correctly answer questions of the investigator.

Interrogation of witnesses who have not reached the age of fourteen must be conducted in the presence of the teacher. In addition, these persons are not warned of liability for false testimony.

After the interrogation of the witnesses is completed, they should carefully examine each page of the protocol, and then sign it.

In a court

In this case, the interrogation of the witness will no longer be a conversation, because he will have to strictly answer the questions posed by several participants in the process. After that, these statements are recorded in the record of the court session. Before the person starts answering questions, he is warned about the responsibility for false information. Then the secretary signs it.

Interrogation of the witness in court begins with that part of the process, according to which he was invited to testify. As a rule, it is made after the victim has already answered all questions of the lawyer and the prosecutor.

Interrogation of the witness in court should be conducted in such a way that other citizens who arrived for this purpose did not hear his testimony. Therefore, they are summoned to the hall one by one, and the others wait in the corridor.

Petition

It can be useful both at the stage of preliminary investigation and in court to prove the innocence of the accused, or vice versa. At the same time, it can be stated either verbally or in writing. In the second case, such a request must be entered in the protocol.

This statement is completed as follows.

Name of the body _____________ (court or ATS)

position_________________

From an attorney _______________

Acting in the interests of _____________

Request for interrogation of a witness

In _________ (name of the body) is case No. ____ on accusation of a citizen ___________ in committing a crime _______ article of the Criminal Code. Circumstances that may matter to the investigation and the court in defense of the person __________ can be confirmed by the witness __________. I ask you to call him with a summons.

Attorney __________ (number, signature).

In the event that for any reason an application for interrogation of a witness is not satisfied by the official to whom it was intended, it is possible to appeal such a refusal through the court and other higher authorities.

The victim

Victims in this case are recognized as an individual who suffered physical and moral suffering from the atrocity committed against him. Proceeding from the norms of the law, the investigator can only assume that the person was injured because of the intent of the suspect, and only the court is entitled to prove this fact. In addition, within the framework of any stage of the process, the injured citizen may file a claim for moral damages, while waiting for the completion of the proceedings is optional.

The victim is summoned for interrogation only by a summons, in which the date and time are indicated, and also in what capacity he should appear to the investigator. This document is handed to the person against receipt with indication of the date of its receipt. In the event that the victim was not at home, the agenda can get any adult member of his family. Also this document can be transferred to the victim through the administration from the place of work or study.

If a citizen can not, for good reason, come to the investigator, it is necessary to inform in advance about this, otherwise he can be subjected to the drive. The same rule applies to the person who is summoned for interrogation as a witness in the case.

The need to conduct a procedural conversation with the victim is primarily connected with the fact that the investigation had the opportunity in the future to rely on giving his testimony and use them as evidence of the guilt of the accused. For the same purpose, a citizen is summoned for questioning as a witness, who can explain something to the law enforcement authorities about the atrocity committed.

Minors

The interrogation of a witness in a criminal case that is under the age of 18 years must be conducted only in the presence of the teacher. This is necessary so that the teenager does not experience a strong nervous tension when communicating with the investigator. The same rule applies to underage victims. In this case, legal representatives may be present at the interrogation.

At the same time, procedural conversation has its own peculiarities:

- persons who are not 16 years old can not be held liable for providing false information;

- a poll in a court session can be held in closed session.

Order

Before the witness's interrogation in the courtroom, the court removes all the others from the process, and they await their call in the corridor. Joint testimony of all eyewitnesses in this case is prohibited. Exceptions are only those cases in which the information reported by the people invited to the court, there are significant differences. Then they can spend a confrontation and find out which of them is telling the truth.

Before conducting an interrogation of a witness in a criminal case in a meeting, the judge asks for a document proving the identity of the person, after which he checks the necessary information from his words. Then the citizen signs with the secretary for warning about the criminal responsibility for the communication in the process of false information.

After all the formalities have been observed, the questioning of the witness begins. The CPC also states that the presiding judge must find out from the person in what relations he is with the defendant, whether the latter is his relative. Because in this case, a citizen can use Article 51 of the Constitution and refuse to testify.

The secretary should record all information in the protocol. The parties to the process ask questions in turn, the prosecutor begins, if the invited witness will testify in defense of the victim. Then the lawyer and the judge ask questions.

Security services

Each witness can use the services of an experienced defender, in order to quickly and correctly give evidence, not to get confused in the questions of the investigator. That's why the person who first collides so closely with law enforcement agencies can be a bit embarrassed, besides, he does not know how to behave during procedural conversation, which questions the investigator should give correct and detailed answers to the circumstances of the committed atrocity.

Counsel during the interrogation of the witness enjoys all the rights of counsel, he can advise his client, make written comments, which must necessarily be included in the record. In addition, with the permission of the investigator, he has the right to ask the citizen questions for clarification of all the circumstances of the case under investigation.

The lawyer will explain to the witness his rights, including the duties that are to give a true testimony on the case, prepare him psychologically before the interrogation.

In addition, the Criminal Procedure Code explicitly provides for the possibility of the defense counsel's participation in procedural conversation with eyewitnesses of the incident, if, of course, they need his help. In practice, this happens rarely, because the services of a lawyer are quite expensive, and not every witness can afford them, especially if there is no special need.

A place

As a rule, a witness is summoned for questioning only by a summons and to that state body that conducts all investigative actions. Because the representative of the law enforcement system very rarely conducts a procedural conversation with persons outside his office. When conducting an interrogation, it is very important that none of the unauthorized persons is present at it, and it is also necessary to ensure that all the words spoken are recorded in the protocol.

After the investigator establishes the identity of the witness, he clarifies to him all the rights and duties that are to give truthful explanations in the case only within the framework of the committed crime, and also, if necessary, to use Art. 51 of the Constitution.

Questions are asked by the procedural person on their own, without others present, if there are people in the office, they should go out for the duration of the interrogation. After following the end of the interrogation, he gives the completed protocol for reading to the witness, who acquainted with him puts his signature.

Time

Interrogation of a witness by an investigator can not be more than four hours in a row. After this, you need to take a break for rest and eating, then you can continue. In total, interrogation can not last more than eight hours a day. Therefore, if the case under investigation is sufficiently large and requires clarification on individual items, the investigator must invite the witness to a summons to give evidence on another day.

Tax call

To my great regret, not only representatives of law enforcement bodies can conduct procedural conversation with witnesses in the case. The same tax authority is vested with the tax inspectorate. In this case, this call procedure is not prescribed anywhere.

Here it is clear only that the questioning of a witness in a tax requires his personal presence. Therefore, a citizen who is invited to a procedural conversation by these authorities must arrive at the indicated address and at the due time to explain the necessary circumstances of the offense being investigated.

The agenda for the witness in this case can be handed in person or sent by mail by registered mail. At the same time, failure to appear in the tax period without valid grounds for that period may be punished with a fine of one thousand rubles.

The process of witness interrogation is carried out here as follows:

- First, the citizen is explained his rights and duties, while he can use Article 51 of the Constitution and refuse to give evidence, but only if it refers to that category of persons specified in the law;

- the interrogation protocol is filled by any official, and not only by an inspector who constantly works with a certain enterprise or organization;

- after filling out the documents, indicating all the data and the location of the procedural conversation, the person is asked about the circumstances of the committed offense known to him, which should also be recorded on paper.

When the survey is completed, the citizen must check all the information and put his signature.

Who can be a witness?

In this case, every citizen who knows anything about the atrocity committed has the full right to go to law enforcement agencies and report it. That is why a witness can only be a person who is not in kinship with the accused, and also possesses information that is of decisive importance in the investigation of the case.

It should be remembered that giving false testimony is punishable by law, so you need to report only truthful information. This rule does not apply to persons who are not 16 years old. But this does not mean that you can slander an innocent person.

Agenda

Each summons of a citizen for interrogation as a witness in the case must be duly executed. Otherwise it will be illegal. At the same time, there will be no consequences for this non-appearance.

It is composed as follows:

To the citizen _________________

Resident at _________________

Agenda

In accordance with Article 188 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, you must come to the investigator of the _______________ of the police department of ______________ to give evidence in criminal case No. ___________ as a witness.

You need to have a passport or other document proving your identity.

In case of failure to appear within the specified time without good reason, you will be subjected to the drive in accordance with Art. 113 CCP.

Investigator ___________ (date, signature).

The necessary conditions

As a rule, they are rarely observed in practice. Although, when determining the time for the appearance of a witness or victim for a procedural conversation, the following points should be taken into account:

- it is best to call a witness at a convenient time for him to establish psychological contact with him, which will be important for fruitful work and rapid detection of the crime;

- it is not necessary to invite a person when the investigator is very busy not to force him to wait long for interrogation in the corridor, he will get tired and will not be able to concentrate in answering the questions posed;

- Do not call witnesses in one day so that they can not communicate with each other.

The first is always to interview those individuals who are not interested in the outcome of the case and can provide the most complete information about the facts that they know about the case. Also, the investigator should exclude the possibility of collusion of citizens with the accused, if he is at large under a written undertaking not to leave the place.

Stages of

Interrogation of witnesses and the victim includes several preparatory points. In other words, it consists of three stages:

- preparatory;

- A free story about that. What happened;

- Answers to the questions.

Before the procedural interview, the investigator should clarify all information about the person, his age, place of work or study, education, and then voice his rights and duties. Communication should take place in a low voice. At the same time, a representative of law enforcement agencies should as accurately as possible bring all the necessary information to the person being interrogated. Thus, having established psychological contact with him, which is an important condition for good work with the witness and the victim.

After a preliminary conversation with a citizen, you need to let him tell you about the known circumstances of the perfect atrocity. At that moment, do not ask him unnecessary questions and correct in the expressions. Otherwise, a person can close in himself and give incomplete information on the case.

If the story of the person arranged an investigator, and he recorded everything in the protocol, then after that you can start asking the witness or the injured questions, the main thing is that they are not suggestive and do not reveal the version of the investigation on their own. The received indications are subject to check, therefore it is necessary to specify all data and sources of their reception.

Before asking the next question, the investigator should find out from the person whether he understands what he is being asked about. Because if a person does not understand the essence of the information brought to him, he will not be able to give correct answers. Also, you should not rush the citizen with answers to the questions posed and provide an opportunity to recall and analyze all the events that have occurred.