PART TWO CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS
CHAPTER IX INITIATION OF INVESTIGATIONS AND CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS
SUB – CHAPTER IV INITIATION OF CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS
C. TAKING PRE-INDICTMENT EVIDENCE
Article 127
General Requirements of Pretrial Interviews, Pretrial Testimony or Special Investigative
Opportunity
5. A person who has not reached the age of eighteen (18) years, or any person who is a victim of
a violent crime, especially if that person has suffered damage from the criminal offense, shall be
examined considerately to avoid producing a harmful effect on his state of mind. If necessary,
a child psychologist or child counselor or some other professional expert should be called to
assist in the examination of such person.
6. An interview of an injured party or victim shall be conducted without unjustified delay by the
police, state prosecutor, or any other bodies conducting the criminal proceedings. The injured
party or victim may be accompanied by a victim advocate or his representative during the
interview.
7. The interviews of a victim or an injured party shall be kept to a minimum and carried out only
when strictly necessary for the purposes of the criminal prosecution.
8. When a person is a victim of a criminal offense of a sexual nature or violence in a domestic
relationship, the interview shall take place with a person of the same sex if requested by the
victim and if such request will not adversely affect the criminal investigation.

PART TWO CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS
CHAPTER XIII PROTECTION OF INJURED PARTIES AND WITNESSES
Article 217
Petition for Protective Measure or Anonymity
1. At any stage of the proceedings, the state prosecutor, defendant, defense counsel, injured
party or victim, victim advocate or victim’s representative, cooperative witness or witness may
file a written petition with the competent judge for a protective measure or an order for anonymity
if there is a serious risk to an injured party, cooperative witness, witness or his family member.
2. The petition shall contain a declaration of factual allegations. The petition and declaration shall
be filed in a sealed envelope and only the competent judge over the stage of the proceedings
and the state prosecutor may have access to the sealed contents.
3. After receipt of the petition, the competent judge may order appropriate protective measures
for an injured party or victim, cooperative witness or a witness, or if he deems it necessary prior
to making a decision on the petition, convene a closed hearing to hear further information from
the state prosecutor, the defendant, the defense counsel, the injured parties or victim, victim
advocate or victim’s representative, cooperative witness or the witnesses. In the case of a
petition requesting an order made pursuant to Articles 219 and 220 of this Code, the competent
judge shall convene a hearing in closed session.
4. The competent judge may make an order for a protective measure for an injured party,
cooperative witness or witness where he determines that:
4.1. there exists a serious risk to the injured party, cooperative witness, witness or his
family member; and
4.2. the protective measure is necessary to prevent serious risk to the injured party,
cooperative witness, witness or his family member.
5. The state prosecutor shall be immediately notified by the competent judge of any petition
made by the defendant, defense counsel, injured party or victim, victim advocate or victim’s
representative, cooperative witness or witness and is entitled to make recommendations and
statements regarding the facts to the competent judge at a hearing and in writing if there is no
hearing ordered by the competent judge.
Article 218
Order for Protective Measures
1. The competent judge may order such protective measures as he considers necessary,
including but not limited to:
1.1. omitting or expunging names, addresses, place of work, profession or any other
data or information that could be used to identify the injured party, cooperative witness
or witness;
1.2. non-disclosure of any records identifying the injured party, cooperative witness or
witness;
1.3. efforts to conceal the features or physical description of the injured party, cooperative
witness or witness giving testimony, including testifying behind an opaque shield or
through image or voice-altering devices, contemporaneous examination in another place
communicated to the courtroom by means of closed-circuit television, or video-taped
examination prior to the court hearing with the defense counsel present;
1.4. assignment of a pseudonym;
1.5. closed sessions to the public:
1.6. orders to the defense counsel and the defendant not to disclose the identity of the
injured party, cooperative witness or witness or not to disclose any materials or information
that may lead to disclosure of identity;
1.7. temporary removal of the defendant from the courtroom if a cooperative witness or
witness refuses to give testimony in the presence of the defendant or if circumstances
indicate to the court that the witness will not speak the truth in the presence of the
defendant; or
1.8. any combination of the above methods to prevent disclosure of the identity of the
injured party, cooperative witness or witness.
2. Other provisions of this Code shall not apply where they conflict with protective measures
under paragraph 1. of this Article.
3. An order for a protective measure shall be in writing and shall not contain any information
which could lead to the discovery of the identity of the injured party or victim, cooperative
witness, witness or his family member, or which could reveal the existence of, or expose to
serious risk, the operational security of ongoing and confidential police initial actions.
4. Once a protective measure has been ordered in respect of an injured party, cooperative
witness or witness, the petitioning party may subsequently request an amendment of a
protective measure. Only the competent judge of the stage of the proceedings may amend or
rescind the order, or authorize the release of protected material to another judge for use in other
proceedings. If, at the time of a request for amendment or release, the original court no longer
has jurisdiction over the case, the competent judge at the court which has jurisdiction may
authorize such amendment or release, after giving written notice to, and hearing any argument
of, the state prosecutor.
Article 219
Order for Anonymity from the Public and from Injured Party or Victim
1. Where protective measures under Article 218, paragraph 1. of this Code are insufficient to
guarantee the protection of a witness proposed by the defense, the competent judge may in
exceptional circumstances make an order for anonymity whereby a witness proposed by the
defense shall remain anonymous to the public, the injured party or victim, victim advocate or
victim’s representative.
2. Before making an order for anonymity, the competent judge shall conduct a hearing, in a
closed session, at which the witness at issue and other persons deemed necessary, such as
police and military personnel providing security, shall be examined. Apart from these persons,
only the state prosecutor, essential court and prosecution personnel and the defense counsel
may be present.
3. The competent judge can only issue an order for anonymity if he first finds that:
3.1. there exists a serious risk to the witness or his family member and the complete
anonymity of the witness is necessary to prevent such serious risk;
3.2. the testimony of the witness is relevant to a material issue in the case so as to make
it unfair to compel the defense to proceed without it;
3.3. the credibility of the witness has been fully investigated and disclosed to the judge
in a closed session; and
3.4. the need for anonymity of the witness to provide justice outweighs the effect of the
interest of the public or the injured party in knowing the identity of the witness in the
conduct of the proceedings.
Article 220
Order for Anonymity from the Defendant
1. Where protective measures provided under Article 218, paragraph 1. of this Code are
insufficient to guarantee the protection of an injured party or victim, cooperative witness or
witness not proposed by the defense, the competent judge may in exceptional circumstances
make an order for anonymity whereby the injured party, cooperative witness or witness shall
remain anonymous to the defendant and the defense counsel.
2. The state prosecutor shall request an order for anonymity from the defendant only by a
written motion filed under seal which describes facts that demonstrate that:
2.1. there exists a serious risk to the injured party, cooperative witness or witness who
would be subject to the order for anonymity, and
2.2. anonymity would prevent the serious risk to the injured party, cooperative witness or
witness.
3. A court shall not issue an order under this Article based on a request under paragraph 2. of
this Article which is based on a general description of danger to witnesses in similar cases.
4. Before making an order for anonymity, the competent judge shall conduct a hearing, in a
closed session, at which the injured party, cooperative witness or witness at issue and other
persons deemed necessary, such as police or military personnel providing security, shall
be examined. Apart from these persons, only the state prosecutor, and essential court and
prosecution personnel may be present.
5. The competent judge can only issue such order for anonymity if he finds that:
5.1. there exists a serious risk to the injured party, cooperative witness or witness or to
his family member and the complete anonymity of the injured party, cooperative witness
or witness is necessary to prevent such serious risk;
5.2. the testimony of the injured party, cooperative witness or witness is relevant to a
material issue in the case so as to make it unfair to compel the prosecution to proceed
without it;
5.3. the credibility of the injured party, cooperative witness or witness has been fully
investigated and disclosed to the competent judge in a closed session; and
5.4. the need for anonymity of the injured party, cooperative witness or witness to provide
justice outweighs the interest of the defendant in knowing the identity of the injured party,
cooperative witness or witness in the conduct of the defense.
Article 221
Form of Order for Anonymity
1. An order for anonymity shall be in writing and shall not contain any information which could
lead to the discovery of the identity of the injured party, cooperative witness, witness or his
family member or which could reveal the existence of or expose to serious risk the operational
security of ongoing and confidential police initial actions.
2. Information in the record of the closed session shall be removed from the record and sealed
and stored as an official secret immediately after the identification and prior to examination of
the injured party, cooperative witness or witness.
3. The restricted data may be inspected and used by the state prosecutor and the competent
judge only in an appeal against an order issued under Article 219 or 220 of this Code. An appeal
against an order for anonymity and the use of methods to prevent disclosure of identity to the
public, injured parties or victim, victim advocate or victim’s representative, witnesses, defense
counsel and the defendant may be made to a review panel, if the order has been issued by a
pretrial judge. Otherwise it may only be appealed in an appeal of the judgment.
Article 222
Prohibition of Questions that may Reveal Identity
The court shall prohibit all questions to which the answers could reveal the identity of an injured
party, cooperative witness or witness protected by a protective measure or anonymity.
Article 223
Witness Protection
Special and extraordinary measures, ways and procedures for witness protection and
cooperative witnesses are governed by the relevant Law on Witness Protection.
Article 224
Additional Protective Measures in Cases of Domestic Violence
In cases of domestic violence, the court may impose the measures specified in the relevant Law
on Protection Against Domestic Violence and also any measures as provided in Article 171 of
this Code.