In the Gürtel case, former Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy had to testify before the National Court. He could not benefit from the exemption from testifying because he had knowledge of the facts before becoming Prime Minister. During this testimony, some questions were not admitted because they were considered irrelevant. Therefore, we wonder what questions should be asked to witnesses in a criminal trial and when they are considered irrelevant.
It should be noted that in criminal proceedings it is very important to be advised by malaysian phone numbers a criminal law attorney , i.e. a criminal lawyer. They are specialized in the field of criminal law and will have sufficient knowledge for a good defense.
According to article 368 of the Civil Procedure Law, which regulates the content and admissibility of questions , it establishes that questions to witnesses must be formulated orally and with due clarity and precision. They must not include evaluations or ratings, and if these are incorporated, they will be considered as not having been made.
Article 709 of the Criminal Procedure Act states: " The President shall not allow the witness to answer questions or cross-examinations that are misleading, suggestive or impertinent ."
According to the Supreme Court's case law, this provision is intended to prevent abuses in the practice of testimonial evidence. This evidence is not unlimited or absolute; any evidentiary activity that is irrelevant or useless is excluded. In addition, the Judge or Court must protect both victims and witnesses. One of the functions of the President of the Court is to weigh up constitutional rights, on the one hand the right to privacy and on the other the right to human dignity.
Trick questions
These are questions that lead the witness to make mistakes or give an inaccurate answer . For example , through very long questions that the witness does not understand, or through a question that contains several questions.
Suggestive questions
They suggest to the witness the answer that he should give to the question. The way in which the question is put to the witness makes him know exactly what he has to say.
Impertinent questions
Questions that are not related to the fact being judged or those that are not suitable for clarifying the facts considered controversial. Anything that is left outside the end of the process is irrelevant.
Impertinent questions are intended to make the person being questioned make value judgements, and involve reiteration or repetition of questions that have already been answered. They are also impertinent when they deal with a matter that has already been sufficiently debated and when the Court has formed a conviction based on other evidence.
Example : In a robbery trial, the victim is asked what would have happened if, on the day of the crime, she had been carrying a backpack instead of a purse. This question has no relation to the facts.
File a protest
If a question is declared to be misleading, suggestive or impertinent, an appeal may be lodged . However, the corresponding protest must be made. The question(s) that have been asked and that have been rejected must be recorded. The question rejected by the President of the Court must be recorded, expressly and explicitly, in the minutes of the trial .
The relevant thing is to determine whether the inadmissibility of the question deprived the defense of the exercise of its powers and whether the omitted questions were relevant, that is, if they had been admitted and practiced the final decision would have been different.
How do we know when to protest? As we have indicated at the beginning, it is necessary to have a lawyer specialized in Criminal Law, such as a criminal lawyer in Palma de Mallorca . This professional is the one who will know when we are being asked – either to us, or to the witnesses or to the other party – an impertinent, misleading or suggestive question and will be able to protest to defend our Rights in the criminal procedure.
What questions should be asked to witnesses?
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