Testimony of a witness in a criminal trial: concept, content, requirements

Abstract

The article is devoted to he study of the peculiarities of witness testimony as a source of evidence in criminal proceedings. It has been established that the testimony of persons who have certain information about the circumstances of a criminal offense is the most important procedural means by which the establishment of the circumstances of the event is ensured. The issue of the location of witness testimony in a criminal trial has been revealed. The thesis is defended that the achievement of the objectives of criminal proceedings can only take place when it is based on high-quality evidential material, which means admissible, proper and reliable evidence, in compliance with all requirements for the evaluation of evidence. In turn, the very process of evaluating witness testimony should be complex in nature and include all the circumstances related to the witness and his testimony, as one of the most frequent types of evidence.The essential properties of the testimony of the witness, the totality of which forms the content and form of this type of evidence, are highlighted: the information is an oral or written message; the source of information is a person endowed with the procedural status of a witness; the information is important for this criminal proceeding; compliance with the requirements of the legislation is ensured when receiving and processing information.The proposed author’s definition of the term “testimony” is information provided orally or in writing to suspects, accused, witnesses, victims, and experts regarding the circumstances known to them in criminal proceedings, which are significant for this criminal proceeding, recorded in the proper order. It is concluded that this definition takes into account all the essential features of the testimony, including those provided by the witness.It has been established that statements often appear as a result of procedural actions that are not related to interrogations, and are recorded in the case materials as elements of various protocols of investigative (search) actions, minutes of a court session, etc. It is proposed to exclude from the legislative definition the mention of obtaining testimony only during interrogation; thus, the content of the norm is expanded, its perception and understanding is facilitated.