On The Immunity System Of Tainted Witnesses

The immunity system of tainted witness is a kind of system that the judicial authorities promise to exempt the suspect’s crime or the use of evidence in order to make the self-incrimination suspect provide crucial evidence. There is no stipulation about tainted witness in our legislation, it only exists in the discussion between theoretical and practice circles. The gap between theory and practice leads to the lack of guidance of legislation about immunity of tainted witness system which exists in juridical practice. The newly revised ‘law of criminal procedure’ in 2012 stipulates the principle of opposition about forcing self-incrimination, which provides theory prerequisite and legislative guarantee for the structure of the immunity of tainted witness in China. However, the principle only stipulates the evidence part rather than the content about right of lawyer-on-site. It does not highlight its legal status and function. The criminal policy of ‘leniency to those who confess’, the obligation of ‘answer truthfully’, the shortage of testifier bearing witness system, and the investigation method of ‘extort confessions by torture’ and ‘violence’ adverse to the translation from suspects to tainted witness. It also blocks the process of the structure of the system. In order to build effective immunity of tainted witness system in China, we have to carry out the applicative pattern, scope and initiation subject, improve the principle of opposition about forcing self-incrimination, promotes its legal status to the basic principle of the ‘law of criminal procedure’ in our country. Meanwhile, authorizing lawyers the right to be on the scene, building system of detection and separation, improving relevant system may provide effective value about remitting conflict between justice and efficiency, or punishing crimes and ensuring human rights.