Witness protection program

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term witness protection comprises as a collective term state measures to protect witnesses from the dangers to which they are exposed as a result of their testimony in their own criminal proceedings or against third parties , in the main hearing itself or at a later stage. The implementation of the criminal proceedings should be ensured by introducing the knowledge of the witness into the criminal proceedings and contributing to a conviction. From the police point of view, there is also encouragement to testify and to leave the criminal scene. Identity and whereabouts of informants , V-people or undercover agents can be kept secret in order to be able to continue to work for the police work.

Situation in Germany

The protection of endangered witnesses, especially in connection with the fight against organized crime, is primarily and largely a task of averting danger . Victims of criminal offenses are often also mentally stressed by the interrogations carried out in the course of the criminal proceedings. At the same time, the administration of justice obliges the citizen as a witness to participate in the proceedings ( Section 48 of the Code of Criminal Procedure). In order to safeguard their right to a fair trial and their legitimate interests, the resulting burdens for vulnerable witnesses should be kept within limits.

Legal regulation

In addition to the measures taken on the basis of the Witness Protection Harmonization Act (ZSHG) to protect persons at risk, the Code of Criminal Procedure (StPO) and the Courts Constitution Act (GVG) contain various options for protecting witnesses in ongoing criminal proceedings.

Under certain conditions, a defendant can be expelled from the courtroom while a witness is giving evidence ( Section 168c Paragraph 3, Section 247 Sentence 2 StPO); he will then be informed of the testimony of the witness.

Endangered witnesses may acc. In the case of an interrogation by the police or public prosecutor's office as well as in the main hearing, instead of your place of residence, state your place of business or work or another address for summons in accordance with Section 68 (2) StPO. They are entitled not to provide personal information or only to provide information about a previous identity and, in exceptional cases, to cover their face in whole or in part, contrary to Section 176 (2) sentence 1 GVG ( Section 68 (3) StPO).

Witnesses can be recorded in the preliminary proceedings according to § 58a StPO as well as in the main hearing according to § 247a sentence 4 StPO in the absence of the accused and presented in the context of the taking of evidence according to § 255a StPO. These provisions were inserted into the StPO with the Witness Protection Act on December 1, 1998, in order to protect victims in need of protection from the psychological consequences of a renewed confrontation with the alleged perpetrator. However, they are also applicable to a witness protected in accordance with the Witness Protection Harmonization Act (ZSHG).

According to § 223 , § 251 StPO, the court can examine whether a witness can be expected to appear at the main hearing or to testify at all, taking into account his personal concerns.

In addition, the public can be excluded from a hearing or part of it, such as the questioning of an endangered witness, if there is a concern that the life, body or freedom of the witness will be endangered ( Section 172 No. 1a GVG).

statistics

Specific information on witness protection is no longer published by the Federal Criminal Police Office in order not to endanger the protection program through the potential merging of pieces of information. On the basis of information from the Federal Criminal Police Office in 2006, however, around 330 cases of witness protection activities were recorded across Germany.

Examples

Volker Speitel (* 1950) was a member of the Red Army Faction (RAF). His statements are particularly important for understanding what happened on the night of the death in Stammheim . In 1979 Speitel was released and went underground with the help of the witness protection program of the Federal Criminal Police Office . Speitel's cover identity has already been revealed twice and had to be renewed.

Klaus Steinmetz (* 1959) is a former undercover agent for the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Rhineland-Palatinate . After the spy activity became known, Autonome from Wiesbaden published an “alternative profile ” against Steinmetz and distributed it across Europe. The former undercover agent then went into hiding. Since August 1993 he has been part of the witness protection program of the Rhineland-Palatinate Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

Carsten Schultze, who was co-accused in the NSU trial , was accepted into a witness protection program because of his testimony.

Witness protection in other countries (selection)

Europe

The European Union has adopted various legal acts to protect victims and witnesses. Corresponding minimum standards were formulated in the European Victim Protection Directive of October 25, 2012.

The European Commission's working document of November 13, 2007 provides an overview of the witness protection laws in the member states and Norway . Most EU member states then have a witness protection regulation either in a separate law or in the code of criminal procedure.

The Europol Platform for Experts also serves as an exchange on the subject of witness protection.

Austria

On April 29, 2014 , the National Council adopted a multilateral agreement with Bulgaria, Estonia, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Hungary to develop and deepen cooperation in the field of witness protection .

Switzerland

Switzerland did not have an official program until 2013 . However, it is known that the police in the individual cantons carried out independent witness protection measures when necessary. The federal law on extra-procedural witness protection (ZeugSG) has existed since January 1, 2013. The law was a prerequisite for Switzerland's accession to the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings of May 16, 2005.

Italy

The German-Italian hitman Giorgio Basile (born 1960) was chief witness against the 'Ndrangheta . Basile lives in the witness protection program of the Italian police .

Ireland

The program is hosted by the Irish Public Prosecutor. The first person under witness protection is Charles Bowden, who testified as a key witness in the case of the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin .

Overseas

United States of America

Legal position

The United States Federal Witness Protection Program was established in 1970 to facilitate the fight against organized crime. Precursors of the program was the Ku Klux Klan Act , which since 1871 testify against the Ku Klux Klan was supposed to protect. The idea contained therein was then taken up by the FBI .

In addition, individual states have their own system of witness protection, in particular the states of Texas , California , Illinois , Connecticut and New York . However, these programs always cooperate with the FBI's nationwide witness protection program.

Before a witness is accepted into the program, a risk assessment must be in place and the means to protect it must be weighed up.

In the case of victims of human trafficking, threatened witnesses can even be granted residence status.

Persons in witness protection programs (selection)

Canada

Canada has had such a program since June 20, 1996 with the Witness Protection Program Act .

New Zealand

The police in New Zealand protect witnesses against gangs and professional criminals and, if necessary, give the witnesses a new identity.

In 2007 the program came under public criticism because a person protected by the program caused a fatal accident while driving while drunk and was further protected by the police as the perpetrator, so that the drive had no legal consequences.

Media reception

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wolfgang Sielaff: "Prohibition to testify" by the perpetrator. Criminology 1986, 58 ff.
  2. ^ Walter Buggisch: Witness threat and witness protection in Germany and the USA. Research on criminology and sanctions law, Volume 11, Berlin 2001, p. 147
  3. ^ Klaus Zacharias: The endangered witness in criminal proceedings. Berlin 1997, p. 160
  4. ↑ Griesbaum, NStZ 1998, 437.
  5. ^ Draft of a law to combat illegal drug trafficking and other manifestations of organized crime (OrgKG) BT-Drs. 12/989 of July 25, 1991, p. 33 f.
  6. ^ Draft of a law amending the code of criminal procedure (law on the protection of witnesses during interrogations in criminal proceedings; witness protection law - ZSchG) BT-Drs. 13/7165 of March 11, 1997, p. 4
  7. ↑ Protection of witnesses in criminal proceedings: On the legal situation in Germany Scientific services of the German Bundestag , status of March 22, 2018, p. 6
  8. ↑ Christian Siegismund: The protection of endangered witnesses in the Federal Republic with special consideration of the law for the harmonization of the protection of endangered witnesses (witness protection harmonization law ZSHG) . Osnabrück, Univ.-Diss. 2009. Link to download PDF (2.75 MB), p. 101 f.
  9. ↑ Christian Siegismund: The protection of endangered witnesses in the Federal Republic with special consideration of the law for the harmonization of the protection of endangered witnesses (witness protection harmonization law ZSHG) . Osnabrück, Univ.-Diss. 2009. Link to download PDF (2.75 MB), p. 56
  10. ↑ Tom Sundermann: NSU Trial: The Three Lives of Carsten S. Die Zeit , June 4, 2013
  11. ^ Judgment in the NSU trial: Carsten S. Der Spiegel , July 11, 2018, for three years
  12. ↑ cf. Christian Siegismund: The protection of endangered witnesses in the Federal Republic with special consideration of the law for the harmonization of the protection of endangered witnesses (witness protection harmonization law ZSHG) . Osnabrück, Univ.-Diss. 2009. Link to download PDF (2.75 MB), p. 156 ff.
  13. ↑ Directive 2012/29 / EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of October 25, 2012 on minimum standards for the rights, assistance and protection of victims of crime and for the replacement of framework decision 2001/220 / JHA OJ. L 315/57 of November 14, 2012, cf. in particular recitals 2–11.
  14. ↑ Commission working document on the feasibility of an EU regime for the protection of witnesses and persons working with the judiciary COM (2007) 693.
  15. ^ Convention on Cooperation in the Field of Witness Protection ( RIS) , accessed on March 5, 2020.
  16. ^ Resolution of the National Council of April 29, 2014 regarding the Convention on Cooperation in the Field of Witness Protection Stenographic Protocol of the 829th meeting of the Federal Council of the Republic of Austria, May 15, 2014
  17. ↑ Federal Office of Justice: Extrajudicial witness protection . VPB 2007.19. Archived from the original on November 16, 2007. Retrieved December 28, 2007.
  18. ↑ Federal Act on Extra-procedural Witness Protection (ZeugSG) of December 23, 2011 Portal of the Swiss government, accessed on July 14, 2017
  19. ↑ Barbara Wüthrich Frey: The extra-procedural witness protection: the scope, the requirements for the addressees of the witness protection program and the relationship between the various witness protection measures July 8, 2013
  20. ↑ Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, Treaty Collection of the Council of Europe - No. 197
  21. ^ Gary T. Rowe Jr., 64, Who Informed on Klan In Civil Rights Killing, Is Dead states "He was buried under the name of Thomas Neal Moore, the identity that Federal authorities helped him to assume in 1965 after he testified against fellow Klansmen ... ” The New York Times , October 4, 1998.
  22. ^ California Witness Protection Program - California Bureau of Investigation - California Dept. of Justice - Office of the Attorney General ( Memento of September 17, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
  23. ↑ William Glaberson: 'LIE OR DIE' - Aftermath of a Murder; Justice, Safety and the System: A Witness Is Slain in Brooklyn . In: The New York Times , July 6, 2003. Retrieved May 31, 2012. 
  24. ^ Metro News Briefs: Connecticut; Witness Protection Plan Is Created by New Law . In: nytimes.com
  25. ↑ Matthew O'Deane: gang . In: Gangs: Theory, Practice and Research . Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved May 31, 2012.
  26. ↑ USCIS Victims of Human Trafficking: T Nonimmigrant Status.
  27. ↑ "Goodfella Henry Hill In Drug Bust" on thesmokinggun.com with mugshot (English)
  28. ↑ Seize the Night: Joe Valachi ( Memento from December 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) on carpenoctem.tv (English)
  29. ^ LegislationOnline (1996): Page no longer available , search in web archives: Witness Protection Program Act (Government of Canada).@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.legislationline.org
  30. ^ New Zealand Police: CIB: International Organized Crime . Archived from the original on September 17, 2008. Retrieved July 5, 2008.
  31. ^ Corrections Department NZ: Corrections Department NZ - Witness Protection . Archived from the original on November 7, 2007. Retrieved November 18, 2010.
  32. ↑ Sean Scanlon: Grieving mother wants answers after witness protection tragedy . October 28, 2007. Retrieved July 5, 2008.