the identity, change of identity, or relocation of any protected person.4Īny person who allows (whether intentionally or negligently) any unauthorised person to gain access to any protected person is guilty of an offence. In the period 2004–2009, a total of 2 343 witnesses and their families were given witness protection. You do not have to wait for a witness protection programme to be implemented – if you have reason to believe that your safety, or that of any related person, may be threatened by reason of being a witness, you can apply 3 to be placed under protection. It falls under the authority of the Minister of Justice, but is effectively administered by the Director-General of Justice in cooperation with the Director of Public Prosecutions. This is what the Witness Protection Act 1998 is all about.
#Witness protection program rules trial#
This can be for the duration of the trial – or for his entire life. It usually means the person taking a new identity, address, employment, and so on – as well as possibly having bodyguards. The point about ‘witness protection’ is to preserve important evidence for the up and coming trial, and – more importantly – to protect that person in return for his giving that evidence. And that is when they need to be protected.
So when someone like this could be an important witness, their life – and that of their family members, and others – might be in danger. Institutions of organised crime like the Mafia come to mind. Sometimes, the person on trial – or people he represents – comes from a world where corruption, intimidation, murder and execution are normal. And that means he becomes important for both sides, for the opposite reasons. When someone knows something particularly crucial – usually about the accused person or the deed he did – he is an important witness. They are under subpoena, 2 which means that they have to appear at the trial and answer questions put to them by the legal representatives of both parties – or those for the prosecution and the accused, in the case of a criminal trial. In a trial, it may be that some witnesses do not give evidence of their own free will.
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