Part One. General Provisions

Section II. Participants in the Criminal Court Proceedings

Chapter 8. Other Participants in the Criminal Court Proceedings

Article 56. The Witness

1. Seen as a witness shall be the person who may be aware of certain circumstances of importance to the investigation and to the resolution of a criminal case, and who is summoned for giving evidence;

2. The summons and the interrogation of witnesses shall be performed in accordance with the procedure, laid down by Articles 187-191 of the present Code.

3. Not subject to an interrogation as witnesses shall be:
1) a judge and the juror - about circumstances of the case, which have become
known to them in connection with their participation in the procedure on the given criminal case;
2) a lawyer, the counsel for the defence of the suspect and of the accused - about the circumstances, which have become known to him in connection with applying to him/her for legal aid or in connection with rendering it;
3) a lawyer - about the circumstances, which have become known to him in connection with rendering legal advice;
4) a priest - about the circumstances, which he has learned from the confession;
5) a member of the Federation Council, a Deputy of the State Duma without their consent - about the circumstances, which have become known to them in connection with their discharge of their powers.

4. A witness shall have the right:
1) to refuse to testify against himself, his (her) spouse and other close relatives,
whose circle is delineated by Item 4 of Article 5 of the present Code. If the witness consents to furnish evidence, he shall be warned that his testimony may be used as the proof in the criminal case, even if he subsequently renounces them;
2) to give evidence in his native tongue or in the language, of which he has a good command;
3) to make use of an interpreter's services free of charge;
4) to enter a recusation against the interpreter, taking part in his interrogation;
5) to enter petitions and file complaints against the actions (the lack of action) and decisions of the inquirer, the investigator and the prosecutor, or of the court;
6) to come to an interrogation with a lawyer, in conformity with the fifth part of Article 189 of the present Code;
7) to make a request for the application of the measures of security, stipulated by the third part of Article 11 of the present Code .

5. The witness cannot be forcibly subjected to the court examination or to a personal examination, with the exception of the cases, stipulated by the first part of Article 179 of the present Code.

6. The witness shall have no right:
1) to evade the attendance at the summons of the inquirer, the investigator or the
prosecutor, or the appearance, upon summons, to the court;
2) to give deliberately false evidence or to refuse to give evidence;
3) to disclose the data of the preliminary investigation, which he has learned in connection with his participation in the proceedings on the criminal case, if he was warned to this effect in advance in accordance with the order, established by Article 161 of the present Code. the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

7. If he fails to appear upon summons without serious reasons, the witness may be brought along under coercion.

8. For giving a deliberately false evidence or for the refusal to give evidence, the witness shall be held responsible in accordance with 308 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

9. For the divulgence of the data of the preliminary investigation, the witness shall be held liable in conformity with Article 310 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation .

Part Three. Court Proceedings

Section IX. Proceedings in a Court of the First Instance

Chapter 37. Judicial Investigation

Article 278. Interrogation of Witnesses

1. The witnesses shall be interrogated apart and in the absence of the still not interrogated witnesses.

2. Before the interrogation, the presiding justice shall identify the person of the witness, find out his relationship with the defendant and with the victim, and explain to him his rights, liabilities and responsibility, stipulated by Article 56 of the present Code, on which the witness shall give a written signed statement that shall be enclosed to the protocol of the court session.

3. The first to put questions to the witness shall be the party, on whose petition he was summoned to the court session. The judge shall put questions to the witness after the latter has been interrogated by the parties .

4. The interrogated witnesses may leave the courtroom before the end of the judicial investigation with the permission of the presiding justice, who shall take into account in doing this the opinion of the parties.

5. If it is necessary to provide for the security of the witness, of his close relatives, relations and near persons, the court shall have the right to conduct his interrogation without making public the genuine data of the witness's person under the conditions, precluding a visual observation of the witness by the other participants in the judicial proceedings, on which the court shall pass a ruling or a resolution.

6. If the parties put forward a substantiated petition on revealing the genuine information on the person who is giving evidence, in connection with the need to carry out the defence of the person at the bar or to establish some circumstances, essential for the examination of the criminal case, the court shall have the right to grant to the parties an opportunity to get acquainted with the said information.


Article 279. Making Use of Written Notes and Documents by the Victim and by the Witness

1. The victim and the witness may make use of the written notes, which shall be submitted to the court upon its demand.

2. The victim and the witness shall be permitted to read out the documents in their possession, which have a bearing on their evidence. These documents shall be submitted to the court and, in accordance with its ruling or resolution, may be enclosed to the criminal case materials.


Article 280. Specifics in an Interrogation of a Minor Victim and Witness

1. If in the interrogation are involved the victims and the witnesses, aged less than fourteen, and at the discretion of the court also those aged from fourteen to eighteen, a pedagogue shall be participating. An interrogation of the minor victims or witnesses with physical or mental defects shall in all cases be conducted in the presence of a pedagogue.

2. Before the start of the interrogation of a minor, the presiding justice shall explain to the pedagogue his rights, on which the corresponding entry shall be made in the protocol of the court session.

3. The pedagogue shall have the right to put questions to the minor victim or witness with the permission of the presiding justice.

4. If necessary, to take part in the interrogation of the under age victims or witnesses, who are pointed out in the first part of this Article, shall also be summoned their legal representatives, who may put questions to the interrogated minor with the permission of the presiding justice. An interrogation of the victim or of the witness, who has not reached fourteen years of age, shall be conducted with an obligatory participation of his legal representative.

5. Before an interrogation of the victims and of the witnesses, who have not reached the age of fourteen, the presiding justice shall explain to them the importance of an exhaustive and truthful evidence for the criminal case. These persons shall not be warned against the refusal to give evidence and against giving a deliberately false evidence, and no signed statements shall be demanded from them.

6. To protect the rights of the minor, an interrogation of the victims and of the witnesses, who have not reached the age of eighteen, may be conducted, upon the petition of the parties and at the initiative of the court, in the absence of the defendant, on which the court shall pass a ruling or a resolution. After taking the defendant back to the courtroom, he shall be informed about the testimony of these persons and given an opportunity to put questions to them.

7. After completing the interrogation, the victim or the witness who has not reached the age of eighteen, the pedagogue who was present at his interrogation, as well as the legal representatives of the victim or of the witness may leave the courtroom with the permission of the presiding justice .