2005-05-24
Section 262
If there is concern that a witness will not testify the truth in the presence of the defendant, or if it is the interrogation of a witness or a person close to them who is at risk of bodily harm, death or other serious danger for the delivered testimony, or an agent or witness whose identity must remain secret for important reasons, the presiding judge shall take appropriate measures to ensure the security or confidentiality of the identity of the witness, or it shall exclude the defendant, their trustees and the public for the duration of the interrogation of such a witness from the courtroom. Upon their return to the courtroom, the defendant must be made familiar with the contents of the testimony of the witness. They may comment on it even without meeting the witness, and they may ask the witness questions through the presiding judge.
Section 262a
A witness who is a particularly vulnerable person or a family member of such person under a special Act shall be interrogated by the presiding judge in such a manner that their visual contact with the accused person is prevented, particularly with the use of technical devices including devices designated for audio transmission; the provision of Section 262 shall not be thereby affected.
Section 263
(1) Instead of the interrogation at the main trial, the transcript on their testimony or a substantial part of it may be read if the public prosecutor and the defendant agree with it, and the court does not deem a personal interrogation necessary.
(2) The consent of the defendant is not necessary if they expressly declare that they will not participate in the main trial or if they expressly request that the main trial is performed in their absence, or if they fail to appear for the main trial despite the duly served summons without an excuse, or if they leave the court room without a serious reason or if the public prosecutor petitioned the reading of the witness testimony in the indictment and the defendant did not petition to personally interrogate such witness after the serving of the call under Section 240 Subsection 3. The consent of the public prosecutor is sufficient in the listed cases. The defendant must be instructed on this in the summons.
(3) The transcript on the testimony of the co-defendant or witness may also be read if the interrogation was performed in a manner consistent with the provisions of this Act, and
a) such person died or was missing, due to a long-term stay abroad or at an undisclosed location becomes unreachable, or becomes ill with disease which, permanently or long-term, makes it impossible to interrogate them or if such person fails to appear for the interrogation even after the repeated summons by the court without a reasonable excuse and their presentation was unsuccessful; if it is the testimony of a witness where there is a justified assumption, during the testimony in the preliminary hearing that is to be read, that it will not be possible to interrogate them at the main trial, their testimony may be read only if the defendant, or their defence counsel, provided they have one, was duly notified of the act,
b) it was an act that could not be deferred or repeated, or
c) such person refused to testify at the main trial without permission.
(4) The transcript on the testimony of a witness who exercises their right to refuse to testify at the main trial under Section 130, may be read only if, before the interrogation which the transcript concerns, they were duly instructed on their right to refuse to testify and they expressly declared that they waive such right, provided the interrogation was performed in a manner consistent with the provisions of this Act.
(5) The provisions of Subsection 1 through 4 on the reading of the transcript of testimony shall also apply accordingly to the playing of an audio and video recording of interrogation conducted by means of video conference equipment.
(6) The parties may object to the manner of the performance of the interrogation, in particular, they may object to the admissibility of a question asked by the interrogator. The objection shall be decided by the presiding judge. If they grant the objection, the interrogated person is not obligated to answer such question and such question shall not be recorded in the transcript or it shall be deleted from it. An objection against a question from the presiding judge, judge or an associate shall be decided by the court.
