Bosnia and Herzegovina

Criminal Procedure Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

PART TWO - COURSE OF THE PROCEEDINGS

CHAPTER XIX - INVESTIGATIVE PROCEDURE

Article 223 - Preservation of Evidence by the Court

Whenever it is in the interest of justice that the witness’s testimony be taken in order to use it at the main trial because the witness may be unavailable to the Court during the trial, the preliminary proceedings judge may, upon the request of the parties or the defense attorney, order that the testimony of the witness in question be taken at special hearing. The special hearing shall be conducted in accordance with Article 262 of this Code.

Prior to using the witness statement referred to in Paragraph 1 of this Article, the party or the defense attorney requesting for the statement to be considered as evidence at the main trial, must prove that despite all efforts to secure the witness’s presence at the main trial, the witness remains unavailable.

The statement in question may not be used if the witness is present at the main trial.

If the parties or the defense attorney are of the opinion that a certain evidence may disappear or that the presentation of such evidence at the main trial may not be possible, the parties or the defense attorney shall propose to the preliminary proceedings judge to take necessary actions aimed at the preservation of evidence. If the preliminary proceedings judge accepts the proposal on taking actions of presentation of evidence, he shall inform the parties and defense attorney accordingly.

If the preliminary proceedings judge rejects the proposal referred to in Paragraphs 1 and 3 of this Article, he shall issue a decision that can be appealed against to the Panel referred to in Article 24(7) of this Code.

Keywords

Preservation of evidence



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