The Institution of Crown Witness in the Light of Selected Rules of Polish Criminal Procedure

Abstract

The trial institution of crown witness is an effective instrument in combating organized crime. It is one of the controversial institutions because it violates the leading principles of the Polish criminal procedure. In the article, the author confronts the institution of crown witness with selected principles of the Polish criminal trial. With the legality principle, the principle of equal rights for the parties to the criminal trial, the principle of free assessment of evidence, the objectivity principle and the fair trial principle. The aim of the article is to indicate the threats that the crown witness institution poses for the proper course of criminal proceedings. The perpetrator who appears in a criminal trial as a witness is an opportunistic exception in an extraordinary situation. It must be approached with utmost care and caution to ensure that the criminal trial is carried out in accordance with the law, remembering that it is a kind of compromise between the fairness of the trial and the institution’s purpose—to combat organized crime.