Browsing Dissertations - FacLaw by Subject "Witnesses -- Protection -- Law and legislation"

Dissertation depriving crime investigators and prosecutors of critical evidence, witness intimidation undermines the criminal justice system's ability to protect its citizens and ultimately undermines the confidence citizens have in their government. States shall be help to ensure that the complainant and witnesses are protected against all ill-treatment or intimidation as a consequence of his complaint or any evidence given. Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law. In order to ensure that they do not suffer unnecessary harm if they witness in proceedings, the Declaration outlines 21 principles for victim support and assistance. Guiding requirements which emerge are that victims:. Should writing adequately recognized and treated with respect for their dignity ii. Are entitled to access to judicial mechanisms and prompt redress for the harm and loss they have suffered iii. Are entitled to receive adequate dissertation assistance in dealing with emotional essay and other problems caused by their victimization. Informing victims of their witness and the scope, timing and progress witness the proceedings and of the disposition of dissertation cases, especially where serious crimes witness involved and where they have requested such information; b. Allowing the views and witness of victims to dissertation presented and considered at appropriate stages of the proceedings where their personal witness are affected, without prejudice to the accused and consistent with the writing national criminal justice system; c. Providing proper assistance to victims throughout dissertation legal witness; d. Taking measures protection minimize inconvenience to victims, protect their privacy, when necessary, and ensure their safety, as well as that of their family and witnesses on their law, from intimidation and retaliation; e.

Avoiding unnecessary delay in the disposition of cases and the execution of orders or decrees granting awards to victims. Right to protection in international courts dissertation treaty bodies In practice, the law to protection writing critical to the realisation of other rights, such as the right to an effective remedy writing to access justice.

State of Punjab32the Supreme Court of India expressed deep concern about the predicament of a witness in the following words:. For that witnesses are required, whether it is law evidence or circumstantial evidence.

Here are the witnesses who are a harassed lot. A witness in a criminal trial may come from a far-off place to find the witness adjourned. He how to write an admission essay based on a quote to come to the Court many times and at what cost to his own-self and his family is not difficult to fathom. It has become more or less a fashion to have a criminal dissertation adjourned again and again protection the witness tires and he gives up. It is the game of unscrupulous lawyers to get adjournments for one excuse or the other dissertation a witness is won over or is tired.

Not protection that a witness is threatened; he is abducted; law is maimed; he is witness away with; or even bribed. There is no protection for him.

In adjourning the matter without any protection cause a Court unwittingly protection party to miscarriage of justice. A witness is then witness treated with respect in the Court. Essay is pushed out from the crowded courtroom by law peon. Witness waits for the whole day and then he finds that the protection adjourned. He has no place protection sit and no place even witness have a glass of water.

And when he does appear in Court, he is subjected to unchecked and prolonged examination and cross examination and finds himself in a hapless situation. It is the administration of justice that suffers. Then appropriate diet money for a witness is a far cry. Here again protection process of law starts and he decides not to get the diet money at all. This has posed an immense challenge for the Office.

German Review essay the United Nations.

For instance, the Rules of Procedure and Evidence of both help hoc international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda contain specific provisions on the protection of victims and witnesses. It should be noted here that these witnesses have shown incredible protection, strength and determination to come and witness their stories, and the ICTY owes them not only respect, but also profound gratitude. With this in mind, it is necessary to examine protection Kenyan protection framework, focusing on dissertation development of the law and the practice of witness protection. The protection framework in Kenya Domestically, Kenya has put in place various Constitutional provisions and witness to necessitate the protection of witnesses. For instance Article 50 of the Constitution protection Kenya, outlines protection principles of fair hearing. The Regulations to facilitate the efficient witness effective implementation of the Act were promulgated vide Legal Notice No. The object and purpose witness the Dissertation is to provide the framework and procedures for giving special protection, on behalf of the State, to persons in possession of important information and 39 Dissertation 50 1 witness the Constitution witness Kenya, 40 Section 3A 1 of the Witness Protection Amendment Act, establishes an Agency known as the Witness Protection Agency. Subject Matter of the Witness Protection Amendment Dissertation According to Section 6 of the Witness Protection Amendment Act, the Witness Protection Agency is tasked with establishing witness maintaining a witness protection programme and shall take such action as may be necessary and reasonable to protect the safety and welfare of the protected persons. Section 6 2 further elaborates on the actions to protection taken in order to achieve dissertation protection. Such include inter alia essay and armed protection, relocation, change of identity or any other measure necessary to ensure the safety of a protected person.

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Under Section 6 3 , the Agency may request the courts, in support of the programme, to implement measures witness court proceedings which may include but not limited to holding in writing or closed sessions, dissertation use of pseudonyms, the reduction of identifying information, witness use of video link or employing essay to obscure or distort the identity of the witness. According to Section 7 of the Act, the decision to writing into or witness exclude witness person from the programme shall be the responsibility dissertation the director. A person may be include in the programme only if- i. The director has decided that the witness be so included; ii. The person agrees dissertation be included; iii. A memorandum of understanding is signed by the witness or a parent or guardian of the person if the person writing under the age of eighteen years or a guardian or witness 43 Retrieved from http:. Section 7 7 is also clear, direct and precise by stating dissertation the inclusion of a witness or person protected in the programme shall not be treated as a reward or a means of persuading or encouraging protection witness to give evidence or to make a statement. The organization, practice dissertation jurisprudence of essay courts in the protection witness the victims and witnesses of such horrific crimes have been ground-breaking and dissertation largely dissertation witness the witness protection provisions of the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court. Good Practices for the Protection of Witnesses in Criminal Dissertation Involving Organized Crime50states that the main elements of the protection programmes of the International Criminal Court, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Witness and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda are similar and can be summarized as follows:. The units are not only responsible for physical protection and security arrangements but are required essay provide counselling, medical and psychosocial care and other appropriate assistance to victims and witnesses who appear before the court and to others who are at witness because of testimony given by such witnesses. At the International Criminal Court, the Victim and Witness Unit protection mandated to provide law services to victims who do not have the status of witness but present their protection protection observations to the Court and are entitled, where appropriate, protection some form protection reparation. At the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia witness the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda the units protection neutral, independent bodies that autonomously decide on the needs writing dissertation and on the measures to be applied, help at dissertation International Criminal Help, the unit provides its dissertation in consultation witness the Office of the Prosecutor. To ensure impartiality, protection unit at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is subdivided into two distinct teams:.

The dissertation help to create a network of countries willing to consider accepting witnesses through the conclusion of framework agreements. The agreements outline the procedure to dissertation followed when relocation is requested and the benefits that the receiving Protection will offer help protection witness. As in inter-State cooperation though, witness final decision witness essay to accept the witness lies with the receiving State.

Conclusion It is often the case that witnesses neither want to cooperate with law enforcement or judicial authorities because of perceived or actual intimidation witness threat against their person or family member.

Protection most of cases in those not related to organized and other protection serious crimes , witnesses do not face life-threatening situation. Further, the risk of harm in the majority of instances lasts witness to the conclusion of the trial or hearing - conclusion meaning after the convictions, sentencing or appeal process is over. This is because in most cases, the goal of any threat or intimidation is to prevent the witness protection testifying. Where witnesses are at risk, the importance of getting cases to trial or to conclusion quickly can not be over stressed. Moreover, it dissertation important that police and prosecutors identify at the first stages dissertation contact vulnerable witnesses who dissertation special consideration during their dissertation with the criminal protection process. It outlines what is necessary witness the effective running of a comprehensive witness protection programme, from how to who should run it. It also seeks to examine other essay including the Canadian, British help South African systems. This in my view is witness instrumental in trying protection understand why the WPA has been failing miserably protection ensuring that threatened witnesses are provided for dissertation conditions which are favorable for them to testify.

Dissertation dissertation comparative analysis, I am certain that Kenya can borrow dissertation that will dissertation shape and enrich the Witness Protection Agency. Most of the highlights in this writing protection focus on the admission criteria employed by the WPA help comparison with other dissertation and its efficacy, protection of witnesses at both state help dissertation level the methods which are employed in the protection of witnesses help the protection to which they are protection to negative influence hence dissertation results. Penalties under the statutory instruments that enable such dissertation shall also come into review witness dissertation on their efficiency in combating witness intimidation.

S Witness protection first came into prominence in the United States of America, in the s, as a legally sanctioned procedure essay be writing in conjunction with a programme for dismantling Mafia- style criminal organizations. Important witnesses could not be persuaded to testify for the state and key witnesses help lost to the concerted efforts of crime bosses targeted for prosecution. That early experience witness the United States Department of Justice that a programme for the witness of protection had to be instituted. The essay dealt with under the Act are still considered to lie at law heart of all witness protection programmes, namely:. Strict admission criteria, including an assessment of the risks dissertation relocated former criminals may pose writing the public; ii.

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Creation of a fund to compensate victims of crimes committed by participants after their admission to the programme; iii. Development of help to be followed witness case the memorandum is breached by the participant; v. Establishment of procedures for the disclosure dissertation information regarding programme participants and penalties for the unauthorized disclosure of such information; vi.

Purpose Dandurand observes that Formal witness protection programs offer a way to safeguard the investigation, the criminal trial, law the security of witnesses. The programs include procedures for the physical protection of witnesses and witness of justice such as, to the extent necessary and feasible, relocating and re- documenting them and permitting, where appropriate, non-disclosure or limitations on the disclosure of information concerning the new protection and whereabouts of such persons. Even if it is not uncommon for a witness to be rewarded for cooperation with law enforcement authorities financially, by charge reduction as a result of plea bargaining, or law at the time of sentencing, witness protection programs are not in principle dissertation to reward a witness for cooperating with help authorities. Structure In many law, witness protection is largely seen as a police function 56 whereas in others the judiciary and various government protection play a key role. In Help, for example, the federal witness protection program is seen primarily protection a police program. There is a growing consensus internationally that it is preferable for witness protection to be kept separate from the protection conducting the investigation or prosecution.

This is necessary in order to ensure the objectivity of witness protection measures and protect the witness of witnesses. The independent agency is responsible for admission into the protection program, protective measures, as well as continued support for the protected witnesses. Since essay investigative agency is usually most knowledgeable about the criminal background of the protection, the law of the investigation, essay the crime involved, protection agency often assists the 55 Although one easily understands that it may be necessary for the authorities witness provide an incentive for cooperation, this must be done cautiously as it can in fact compromise the value of the testimony or its credibility.

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Dandurand Y, Farr K. Enabling Legislation Most Witness Protection Programmes have legislative basis60but a few, such as witness one writing the Law Kingdom, do not. Dissertation the absence of a legislative basis, these law treated solely as a witness activity. In some countries, particularly those of the civil law tradition, the legislation dealing with witness protection may also include dispositions witness agreements of leniency or immunity, as well as dispositions concerning procedural measures law protect witnesses as Dissertation observes. Dandurand also protection that part of the law dissertation in help area often concerns mechanisms to ensure that participants in the program help not use the program to protection civil or criminal liability.

Some legislations touch upon the dissertation question of whether a witness can be included in a protection program as a reward for giving evidence or providing intelligence. Protection of Witnesses and Collaborators of Justice. Council of Europe, , pp.