Interrogation of a clergyman in evidentiary trial

Abstract

The article presents results of an analysis of current legislation of the Russian Federation and the Church law of the Russian Orthodox Church on the legal status of a “clergyman” and their opportunity to testify in criminal proceedings. Taking into account different points of view on this issue, it is substantiated that a clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church cannot be interrogated as a witness in a criminal case about the circumstances that became known to him during the Sacrament of Penance. The question of the ratio of the concepts of “clergyman” and “priest” fixed at the normative level, but not equal, a pedibus usque ad caput, in essence, is considered. It is indicated that according to the canonical law of the Orthodox Church, the concept of “clergyman” is broader, with its own characteristics, which are dictated by the purpose of a particular degree of priesthood. In the article, the category of witness immunity is considered from the position of its functional orientation. An attempt has been made to substantiate the legal and moral aspects of the right to legal immunity of clergy. An attempt has been made to substantiate the legal and moral aspects of the right to legal immunity of a clergyman, through understanding the impossibility of conducting an interrogation, since this restriction of the subject of testimony is explained by the priority of social values that are protected by the provision of the law.