[DRAFT] Witness Rights and Protection

[Skyviolia]

Acknowledging that witnesses may be the most reliable sources in the courtroom and their right to do contribute to the courtroom shall be noted and enforced.
Aggravated that the World Assembly has not passed resolution to confirm the rights of witnesses. Nor enforced the right of witnesses to be protected during the process of criminal and civil trails.
Further aggravated that many nations deny witnesses protection and rights due to the nature of the crime and/or their social/culture status. (i.e region,ethnic groups, economic stability, income, gender.)
Committed to the enactment of legislation to protect the rights and security of witnesses.

The World Assembly hereby.

Article 1- Definitions
1. Defines witness as an individual with direct knowledge of a matter which is under criminal, civil, or other investigation. The witness may have been a participant, or directly involved in the in question.
2. Defines witness protection as the lawful protection of a witness by law enforcement and protection to protect the persons from the harm of those acting on the behalf of the defense or any other third party member.

Article 2- Witness Protection
1. Witnesses in both civil and/or criminal cases shall be protected in all cases regardless of statues or form.
2. Witnesses shall be protected before and during criminal proceedings.
3. Establishes that witness protection shall be aimed to protect witnesses from the harm of those who wish to silence the witness.
4. Forbids member nations from denying a witness the right to protection.
5. Forbids the physical, economical, mental, and physiological harming of a witness in any and all cases.
6. Recommends that member nations establish specific guidelines on the requirements and process of witness protection as-long as they meet the requirements prescribed by this resolution.
7. Allows member nations to forbid the movement of witnesses if the witness could be under threat of harm. Also permits member nations to require the witness to relocate to a designated position for their security.
8. Requires nations to criminalize that act of intentionally causing harm to a witness as defined in Article 2. Claus 5.

Article 3- Witness Rights
1. Witnesses shall have the right to speak before the courts in the matter of civil and criminal proceedings.
2. Forbids WA nations from denying witnesses the right to speak before the court.
3. Forbids WA nations from charging witnesses with fines for testifying unless in the case of perjury.
4. Forbids courts from infringing on material presented by witnesses.

Article 4- The Witness Protection Agency
1. The Witness Protection Agency shall be formed to insure the protection and rights of witnesses.
2. Its duties shall be-
a. Regularly promote and enforce the right of witnesses.
b. Insure the safety and security of witnesses
c. Release witnesses into international security when necessary.
3. Noting that The Witness Protection Agency shall only be used in the protection and the rights of the witness. They Agency shall have no right on the issue of the crime itself or the issues regarding the accused.
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This is the first draft. Leave constructive comments on your opinions. What do you think I should add and/or change. If their are an grammatical mistakes, please feel free to point them out.

[Araraukar]

Category? Strength? Sanity?

[Wrapper]

Without going into too much detail -- our resident expert-slash-intern is busy doing, umm, intern-y things -- just, right off the bat:

Article 1- Definitions
1. Defines witness as one who has physically witnessed a crime either directly or indirectly, and(or) someone who has first hand knowledge of the proceedings of a crime.
2. Defines witness protection as the lawful protection of a witness by law enforcement and protection.

So, A witness is one who witnesses, and witness protection is the protection of a witness.

See the problem there?

[Domnonia]

Esteemed Delegate of Skyviolia, after the briefest of cursory glancing, peeking, peeping, thumbing and dipping, the Dominis Foreign Mission to the World Assembly Museums of Musical Heritage has found that your draft proposal has much to say about a topic that may be better served with brevity.

[The Palentinate]

"This would work in a perfect world where there were no corrupt nations. I do realize that resolutions are binding, but this resolution works on the premise that those in government, law enforcement, and such are completely non-corrupt. Many countries have a large bureaucracy with much corruption. This resolution adds onto bureaucracy which can only breed more corruption. Plus it should be up to individual nations to decide on their criminal justice system. A program with this broad a scope would restructure the federal and state police in my nation, as well as other branches dealing with law enforcement. At this point the Palentinate is inclined to oppose this resolution."

[Mofa]

Just a few thoughts to start things off. This is a great idea but as a few others mention, it can be very difficult to implement in certain states. It might be worth it focus this on a few core principles and build a structure that can work in several government types.

Article 1- Definitions
1. Defines witness as one who has physically witnessed a crime either directly or indirectly, and(or) someone who has first hand knowledge of the proceedings of a crime.
2. Defines witness protection as the lawful protection of a witness by law enforcement and protection.

As was mentioned above, this still needs work. Perhaps defines witness as an individual with direct knowledge of a matter which is under criminal, civil, or federal investigation. The witness may have been a participant, victim, or directly involved in the in question. Your definition of witness protection needs to be more specific. For e.x. Witness protection is the process which makes contact with witness on behalf of defense unlawful.

Article 2- Witness Protection
1. Witnesses in both civil and/or criminal cases shall be protected in all cases regardless of statues or form.
2. Witnesses shall be protected before and during criminal proceedings.
3. Establishes that witness protection shall be aimed to protect witnesses from the harm of those who wish to silence the witness.
4. Forbids member nations from denying a witness the right to protection.
5. Forbids the physical, economical, mental, and physiological harming of a witness in any and all cases.
6. Recommends that member nations establish specific guidelines on the requirements and process of witness protection as-long as they meet the requirements prescribed by this resolution.
7. Allows member nations to forbid the movement of witnesses if the witness could be under threat of harm.
8. Requires nations to further:
a. Establish a Witness Protection Division
b. Regularly receive reports from their witness protection division.
c. Criminalize that act of intentionally causing harm to a witness as defined in Article 2. Claus 5.

'

#7 movement could also be for protection, and holding witness hostage could result in location and/or recantation.
You may want to split this into two acts.. one for protection during the judicial process, one for afterwards. If a person will lose protection after trial its a real disincentive for testifying. You might want to think about #8. I assume they will be powerless in some countries. A thought is to create an international body and/or a resettlement program for a certain number of qualified witnesses needing relocation from countries that fail to meet these guidelines.

Article 4- The Witness Protection Agency
1. The Witness Protection Agency shall be formed to insure the protection and rights of witnesses.
2. Its duties shall be-
a. Regularly promote and enforce the right of witnesses.
b. Insure the safety and security of witnesses
c. Release witnesses into international security when necessary.
3. Noting that The Witness Protection Agency shall only be used in the protection and the rights of the witness. They Agency shall have no right on the issue of the crime itself or the issues regarding the accused.

'

Is this an international body? national? who does it consist of?

[Wrapper]

Looks like this has been submitted.

[John Turner]

Looks like this has been submitted.

That really is not surprising.

[Araraukar]

Looks like this has been submitted.

That really is not surprising.

OOC: Looks like every time we tell a newbie that their idea is a bad idea, they submit it. And then people wonder why peeps who have been here a long time, can sometimes be a bit stroppy when it comes to new crappy proposals.

IC: I see that criminals are still considered witnesses, and you can't fine them.