Dreptul martorului de a nu se autoacuza
The witness's right to non self-incrimination

Summary/Abstract: The right to silence and non self-incrimination was acknowledged ever since the traditional Roman law, being generally accepted that any person can be a witness in his/her case, and cannot be forced to provide the judicial bodies with evidence against him/her. Thus, in order to reconcile the personal interest with making justice, and, as the modern criminal regulations operate under the principle according to which “the truth cannot be obtained at any price and by any means”, our laws expressly recognize specific rights and obligations of witnesses, as well as of suspects and defendants rights and obligations arising from the different roles they play in criminal suits. Nevertheless, there is a common point with regard to the rights and obligations of the witness and those of the suspect/defendant, so as, at a given time, the separation line between these capacities becomes thinner, and an individual acting as a witness may become a suspect in the same case, the reverse being also possible.This thesis aims to prevent the difficulties that may occur in practice with regard to the delimitation between the status of witness from the one of suspect of the same individual in the same criminal suit, to establish the moment when the witness has the right to be silent and when he/she may be subject to criminal liability for perjury, as well as to determine the applicable sanctions in case this latter right is violated.

• Details
• Contents