Resolution of the Council of 23 November 1995 on the protection of witnesses in the fight against
 international organized crime
 Official Journal C 327 , 07/12/1995 p. 0005 - 0005

 Dates:
 OF DOCUMENT:
                     23/11/1995
 OF EFFECT:
                     23/11/1995; ENTRY INTO FORCE DATE OF DOCUMENT
 OF END OF VALIDITY:
                     99/99/9999
 

 Subject matter: JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS
 Directory classification code: 19000000
 EUROVOC descriptor: evidence ; civil defence ; organized crime ; judicial cooperation ; EC countries
 

 RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL of 23 November 1995 on the protection of witnesses in the fight
 against international organized crime (95/C 327/04)

 THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
 Having regard to the Treaty on European Union,
 Having regard to the recommendations to step up judicial cooperation adopted by the Ministers for
 Justice and Home Affairs at their meeting in Kolding (Denmark) on 6 and 7 May 1993,
 Having regard to the priorities set by the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 29 and 30 November
 1993 and the work programme for 1994 drawn up by the Council,
 Having regard to the conclusions of the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting on 30 November and
 1 December 1994,
 Whereas the fight against international organized crime requires that in the Member States the safety
 of witnesses be effectively ensured in practice while complying with the Convention for the Protection
 of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms,

 A. Calls on the Member States to guarantee proper protection of witnesses taking account of the
 following guidelines:

 1. for the purposes of this Resolution, 'witness` means any person, whatever his legal status, who
 possesses intelligence or information regarded by the competent authority as being material to
 criminal proceedings and liable to endanger that person if divulged;

 2. such witnesses should be protected against all forms of direct or indirect threat, pressure or
 intimidation;

 3. Member States must ensure proper and effective protection of witnesses before, during and after
 trials, where the competent authorities deem this necessary;

 4. such protection must also be extended to the parents, children and other close relatives of
 witnesses if necessary in order to avoid any form of indirect pressure;

 5. when this protection is instituted, each case will have to be examined individually to determine
 whether the agreement of the witness and his relatives should be sought;

 6. the competent authorities should be able to decide, of their own accord or at a witness's request,
 that the address and identifying particulars (1) of the witness should be known only to those
 authorities;

 7. if the threat is extremely serious, a change of identity for the witness and, if necessary, for
 members of his immediate family, may be allowed;

 8. one of the forms of protection to be envisaged is the possibility of giving evidence in a place other
 than that in which the person being prosecuted is situated through the use, if necessary, of
 audiovisual methods, subject to observance of the adversary principle as interpreted in the case law
 of the European Court of Human Rights;

 B. Calls on Member States to facilitate judicial assistance in this field, even in the absence of any such
 provisions in the legislation of the State to which the request is addressed, save where compliance
 with the request for assistance would be contrary to the general principles of that State's law. In
 order to facilitate the use of audiovisual methods, the following points, in particular, should be taken
 into consideration:

 1. In principle, it should be envisaged that the hearing may be conducted under the legal and practical
 conditions of the requesting State only;

 2. If the legislation of either State allows for the witness to be assisted by an adviser during the
 hearing, it should be possible for such assistance to be arranged in the territory of the State in which
 the witness is situated;

 3. Translation costs and the cost of using audiovisual methods should be borne by the requesting
 State, unless otherwise arranged with the State to which the request is addressed.

 C. Calls on Member States to carry out an assessment of the implementation of this Resolution in
 practice and instructs the appropriate bodies to report to it by the end of 1996 at the latest.

 (1) Some delegations said that, according to their reading of the text, the identity of the person was
 not covered by point A.6.
 

FONTE : http://ue.eu.int/ejn/indexfr.htm