Problems Of The Legal Status Of Witnesses In Constitutional Proceedings

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problems of the current state and further improvement of the legal status of witnesses as involved participants in the constitutional proceedings in Ukraine.

Based on the results of the study, the author concluded that a witness in a constitutional proceeding is a participant in the constitutional proceeding that has information or material evidence for a full and impartial consideration of the issue, the court as a whole or the Constitutional Court in particular finds out. In addition, according to the author’s conviction, witnesses in constitutional proceedings can be classified according to the following criteria: according to their affiliation - main and auxiliary. With their participation in certain stages of the formation of the act, they are divided into witnesses who participated in the signing procedure; the order of adoption; the order of publication; the order of enactment of such an act. According to the level of legal consolidation and the form of legal activity, legislative and law enforcement are distinguished. At the same time, according to the procedure for summoning to court, witnesses are divided into those summoned at the request of the parties or summoned by the court on their own initiative; by type of court session - those that participate in closed court proceedings, as well as those that participate in open court proceedings.

As noted in the scientific article, a special novelty in constitutional proceedings is the formation of the so-called immunity of the witness. If we turn to the primary sources of the origin of the institution and its application in practice, then the fundamental body that essentially introduced it is the European Court of Human Rights. He considers that the norms of witness immunity are generally recognized norms of international law, based on Art. 6 of the Convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms the Convention defines the concept of a fair trial, thereby ensuring not only a trial, but also the realization of all the rights of the participants without restrictions.

At the same time, the legal status of a witness in constitutional proceedings requires improvement both in terms of existing rights and obligations, and in ensuring guarantees for the protection of witnesses.