Analysis On The Privilege Of Relatives Witness In Criminal Proceedings

In recent years, great changes have taken place in all aspects of China, such as diversified social relations, complicated benefits pattern as well as diversified ideas and thoughts. In response to such changes, a better system is required to maintain social harmony and stable social life. This is exemplified by the system of Privilege of Relatives Witness, which refers to the right of citizens with a certain kinship enjoying exemption from testifying or preventing others from testifying. Specifically, the system of Privilege of Relatives Witness in criminal proceedings is to tackle the problem that the witness has to face the dilemma between justice and family affection when he is the relative of the defendant or the suspect. Building this system is to protect the stability and harmony of marriage and family life, and to protect privacy based on family relations. However, the system of Privilege of Relatives Witness is not yet built in China. By comparing and analyzing extraterritorial legislation of relevant systems, this paper, based on the theoretical work of the system of Privilege of Relatives Witness, will propose some detailed suggestions on improving this system. This article is divided into following 4 parts in addition to introduction and conclusion:In the first part, relevant theory of Privilege of Relatives Witness is elaborated specifically. Firstly, the definition is analyzed and defined. Secondly, an analysis of the identity of the privilege and criminal blame privilege, and a comparative study on marital privilege and parents-children privilege according to the different application condition of Privilege of Relatives Witness is conducted. Finally, the value of Privilege of Relatives Witness is briefly discussed.In the second part, the theoretical basis of Privilege of Relatives Witness is illustrated mainly from the aspects of the protection of citizens’personal rights, rights of relatives in criminal proceedings, and the protection of the right of privacy, self-determination and so on.In the third part, the legislation of Privilege of Relatives Witness in some representative countries is introduced. Besides, the status of different legislations of the Privilege of Relatives Witness is summed up and the reasons of different legislations are analyzed.In the fourth part, the necessity of building the Privilege of Relatives Witness in China is elaborated from the angle of eliminating disadvantages of the rule of criminal evidence and proposing the reform of the mode of penal litigation in China according to the situation of legislation in our country. Then specific suggestions on the subject scope, specific application, procedures, and relief measures of the Privilege of Relatives Witness are put forward.