Invisible sociological components affecting witness testimony in the Iranian criminal justice system

Abstract

Testimony is when a person who has information about a lawsuit states it to the judicial authorities. Witness testimony is one of the important evidences in criminal law. The issue of the present article is the position of witness testimony in criminal procedure and the level of support for them. The purpose of the present article is to examine the comparative attitude towards witness testimony in jurisprudence, Iranian criminal law and the International Criminal Court. The present article is descriptive-analytical and uses a library method to examine the mentioned question. The findings indicate that witness testimony is of great importance in Iranian jurisprudence and criminal law and is considered one of the important reasons for proving a crime, in such a way that witnesses may be summoned to testify if they deem it appropriate. Witness testimony is also important in the International Criminal Court, but witness testimony is voluntary and there is no compulsion in this regard. The most important effects of the type of attitude towards witness testimony are manifested in the support of witnesses. In Iranian criminal law, various mechanisms have been considered, such as non-disclosure of witness information, remote hearing of testimony, and executive protective measures. These measures in the International Criminal Court are different in some cases, such as non-disclosure of witness information, and similar in others, such as taking executive measures, although the Court, due to its international nature, has limited possibilities in the field of taking executive measures in the protection of witnesses.