In the Civil Procedure Code, a witness is an individual who knows certain information, and it is important for the resolution of a certain case. The concept of the term “witness” is covered in Article 69 of the Code of Civil Procedure. According to the requirements of the same article, a witness cannot be a person who is simultaneously a party to a particular case.
General Provisions
Witness testimony is a duty, not a right. Administrative and criminal liability is provided for evasion or concealment of information. In most cases, the interviewee discloses facts about which he personally learned or witnessed certain actions. However, it is permitted to report what the witness learned from other persons, but not “by rumor”. Simply put, such information can only be provided with reference to the source.
According to the provisions of Article 59 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the testimony of a witness is evidence, that is, the information provided must comply with all the requirements specified in this article. The court without fail assesses the evidence as to how relevant they are to the case under consideration, the degree of their reliability, and only after that attaches them to the case file. The results of the assessment are necessarily recorded in the court decision, the reasons for which they were accepted or rejected are described.
A number of statements are unacceptable and will not be attached to the case. For example, if a written form is provided for the contested transaction at the legislative level, then testimony will not be accepted, and the plaintiff or defendant is not entitled to refer to them.
In addition to the fact that a witness does not have the right to simultaneously act as a witness and as a party to the case, he should not have a personal interest in allowing a specific sport. That is, before the interview, the judge finds out the relationship of the interrogated person and the parties to the process.
Age
The civil law does not establish the age from which to testify. However, according to the requirements of Article 179 of the Code of Civil Procedure, if a person is a minor under the age of 14 to 16 years, he can be interrogated only in the presence of a teacher.
Immunity
According to the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, witnesses have the right to refuse to testify in relation to themselves.
Other situations where you can refuse:
- if it is necessary to testify against the spouse, children, including adopted children, parents (including parents of adopted children);
- against sisters and brothers, grandparents, friends, grandchildren.
If information is requested that has become known in the course of the performance of a professional activity, then a deputy of the legislative bodies and human rights ombudsmen are not required to divulge it.
According to the requirements of the Civil Procedure Code, a witness cannot testify if he is a priest, jury, court employee, civil or public representative of one of the parties.
However, the witness has the right to agree to the disclosure of information, but the court will necessarily take into account the relationship of interested parties.
Rights
According to the requirements of the Civil Procedure Code, the examination of a witness must be carried out in compliance with certain rules, and the interrogated person has the rights:
- To provide information in the native language.
- If we are talking about a foreign citizen who does not know Russian, then he has the right to a free translator.
- The right to challenge the translator.
- Submit testimonies in writing if calculations are required for the truthful presentation of information.
- Ask the court for re-interrogation.
- For filing applications, complaints, petitions.
- Demand reimbursement of expenses related to traveling to the place of interrogation and others.
In general, in the Code of Civil Procedure, the witness and other participants in the process have the same rights.
Responsibilities
The law has two main responsibilities for witnesses:
- to appear at the appointed time in the courtroom;
- to give exclusively truthful evidence.
If the witness does not appear in court and cannot prove the validity of his absence, he faces a fine of up to 100 minimum wages. This sanction is enshrined in article 168 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
If the interviewee does not have legal grounds for refusing to provide information or if he provided deliberately false information, then he faces criminal liability.
Types of indications
Depending on the content, information is divided into three groups:
- Information-information. As a rule, this information is presented by a person who has no idea about the relationship of the parties to the dispute. The witnesses are random people who, by the will of fate, became eyewitnesses to a particular incident.
- Information with judgments. Such information usually comes from acquaintances or relatives of one of the parties to the process, that is, such people clearly know the essence of the dispute. Often, such witnesses have a personal interest in the outcome of the case. As a rule, it is rather difficult to separate facts and personal judgments from such a speech.
- Information of competent witnesses.
The last group is the testimony of persons who, due to their professional activities, can not only state the essence of the incident, but also draw conclusions. For example, a testifying driver can not only talk about the incident, but also draw professional conclusions.
Call
Calling witnesses under the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation may be carried out on behalf of the defendant, plaintiff, third party. The interested party should apply to the judge with a statement stating the details of the witness. It is allowed to combine the application and the claim in one document.
Oral submission during the meeting is allowed. But if there is a suspicion of partiality of a court representative, it is better to file a petition in writing and through the office.
How is the procedure going?
After notifying the secretary of the appearance at the meeting, the party to the process declares that a witness has appeared. The judge first explains to the witness his rights and obligations, the witness signs on the form, which confirms that he was informed about everything. After that, the interrogation only begins.
If there are several witnesses, then everyone is interrogated in turn. All who came to testify are interrogated separately, while everyone is brought into the hall one at a time. Initially, the judge finds out in what relationship are the witness and the parties to the process. It is the answer to this question that will enable the judge to correctly evaluate the information received.
Then the floor is given to the witness, who must communicate all the information known to him. After this, time is given for the opponents (the other side of the dispute) to ask questions. The judge has the right to intervene in the conversation, to conduct a new interrogation, if there are too many contradictions in the evidence. If it turns out that the information provided is based only on rumors, and the witness cannot refer to a specific source, then such evidence will not be taken into account in the further consideration of the case.
Features of interrogation of a minor
According to the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, the call of a witness who has not reached the age of majority is carried out on a common basis. However, at the beginning of the survey, the teenager is explained only that he must tell the truth. Minors cannot be held liable for giving false testimonies.
The interrogation itself is carried out exclusively in the presence of an adult, however, if such a person is embarrassed, frightens the child, the judge has the right to remove him from the hall. If the judge notices that the child is embarrassed, he will ask him who negatively embarrasses him emotionally. But under any circumstances, if the minor has not reached the age of 14, a teacher must be present in the hall, usually from the school where the child is studying.
Statement
According to the requirements of the Civil Procedure Code, a request to call a witness can be filed at any stage of the civil process. The timing of the submission depends solely on the position of the person who submits the petition.
Without fail, an application, both oral and written, must contain the following information:
- full details of witness
- address of residence and registration;
- circumstances that the interrogated person can clarify;
- in case of involvement of the child, his age.
Practicing lawyers do not recommend inviting a large number of witnesses who can submit the same information.
The judge, after considering the application, makes a determination, which will either accept the application or reject it. If the petition is submitted during the trial, then witnesses can be invited immediately, most likely that the judge will hear them immediately.
According to the requirements of the Civil Procedure Code, the witness is protected from the moment the judge grants the request for his involvement in the process. Persons who wish to coerce a witness to give false testimony will threaten him, will be prosecuted.
Eventually
In practice and in the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, the examination of a witness is a key factor in the decision making by a judge. Such persons may confirm or refute the innocence or guilt of the defendant, receive answers to questions. But in order to attract a witness, the parties must adhere to a certain procedure - to submit a reasoned request to a judge.
Some categories of witnesses may refuse to testify, the same participants in the trial, priests, deputies and so on. Minors may be interrogated exclusively in the presence of teachers. And most importantly, giving testimony is not a right, it is the duty of every citizen of the country.