SPECIAL PART
SECTION 9. PROCEEDINGS IN FIRST INSTANCE COURT
CHAPTER 43. TRIAL
Article 340. Procedure of the interrogation of the witness
Witnesses are interrogated apart from each other and in the absence of not yet interrogated witnesses.
The chairman clarifies the witness's relations with the defendant, the injured person, the civil claimant, the civil defendant and other persons participating in the case and suggests to the witness to announce all he knows about the case. In this case it is not allowed to interrupt the witness with questions.
The witness summoned to the trial by appeal of a party or presented by the party, is first interrogated by the appealing party or by the person who presented the witness, and after that, by other persons in that party, and finally, the representatives of the opposite party, and the court.
The witness summoned by the initiative of the court is first interrogated by the prosecution party, then, the defense party, and finally, the court.
Article 341. Interrogation of an under-age witness
Interrogation of an under-age witness, if it is necessary for complete, comprehensive and objective examination of the circumstances of the case, can be conducted by appeal of the parties or by court initiative, in the absence of the defendant. After return to the court room, the testimonies of the under-age witness are publicized for the defendant; the latter is given an opportunity to ask questions to the witness and to testify on the data provided by the witness.
A witness under sixteen years of age must be taken from the court room after the interrogation, except those cases when the court by appeal of a party or by its own initiative finds it necessary that the witness should be present.
Article 342. Publicizing the testimonies of witness
Publicizing the testimonies of the witness during the inquest, preliminary investigation or the preliminary trial and the reproduction of the audio records of these testimonies during the trial is allowed when the witness is absent from the trial for reasons which rule out the possibility of his presence, when there are essential discrepancies between these testimonies and the ones the witness gave in court, and in other cases envisaged in this Code.
The reproduction of audio records of the testimonies of the witness is possible only after publicizing the interrogation protocol or the court trial protocol where his testimonies are recorded.
Procedure for witness testimony - national proceedings
Examination of witnesses - national proceedings
EDIT.