You were involved in a criminal case as a witness or an accused. If you pass as a witness, but do not want to testify, you can do so only in strictly defined cases: for example, you are a close relative of the accused, his lawyer or a priest. If you are the accused, then you have the right to remain silent.
Instructions
Step 1
Read the rules of the Code of Criminal Procedure governing testimony. If you are the accused (defendant), then you are in an advantageous position. You have the right not to testify. At the same time, do not forget that if you want to testify, you yourself must declare this. In accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure, after refusing to testify, the defendant (accused) should not be summoned for interrogation until he himself declares his desire to testify.
Step 2
If you are a witness, the matter is somewhat more complicated. Remember that you can be exempted from testifying if you are a close relative of the accused (suspect), as well as another close person. The CPC provides an approximate list of such statuses, so you can easily find yourself (or not find) among them. If you fall under the category specified in the Criminal Procedure Code, you have the right to refuse to testify.
Step 3
You can also refuse to testify if you are a lawyer. Remember that you must be a lawyer (defender) in this case. If you are just a lawyer, and you are only a witness in the case, then you have no right to refuse to testify. You also have the right to refuse to testify as a priest. There is one small nuance: the priest must be a member of an officially registered religious organization. Because of this, you cannot claim to be an adherent of any sect or movement like Scientology. Your organization must be registered as a religious organization. Otherwise, you will be obliged to testify in accordance with the general procedure.
Step 4
If you do not fit into any of these categories, then you have no right to refuse to testify. In this case, you will have to incur criminal liability for refusing to testify. One can only rejoice in the fact that there are negligible cases of prosecution under this article.
