Does A Witness Need An Attorney During A Police Interview?

The realities of life are such that, regardless of our will, we often became a witness of a wide variety of events, incidents, situations, which are observed in everyday life. Sometimes it's pleasant events such as the birth of a child, sometimes unpleasant, such as death. The same is true for certain incidents and situations. Today one can be the witness at the wedding, and tomorrow he or she becomes a witness for a criminal case, after the fight, which took place during the same wedding.

None of us has immunity for the acquisition of the status of a witness in the criminal procedural sense. At the same time, many people, once in the investigator's office for questioning, do not know their rights, what they can do and what cannot, how to behave, and feel themselves uncomfortable. Unfortunately, it sometimes happens that officials investigating certain crimes, are restricted to formal and rapid reading of the article of the Criminal Procedure Code, which basically lists the duties of a witness and his liability, if he tries to mislead the investigation and give false testimony. At the same time, many do not even bother to ask the man if he understood the content of the article. After this formality the questioning starts where sometimes the witness can be unceremoniously asked concerning both personal life and its intimate details; often the investigator, annoyed for not having received the desired response, repeat the responsibility which is entailed if the witness provide false or accidently wrong information.

Many people, who were questioned as a witness, later said that they did not know that they can talk to a lawyer and to be interrogated in his presence. Taking this fact into account, it is difficult to overestimate the value of part 3 art. 78 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which provides a list of witness rights, including the right of a witness to testify in the presence of his lawyer.

I, like many of my colleagues - lawyers, have repeatedly participated in such investigative actions, in which defended the rights of the client, having the procedural status of a witness in a criminal case. I would like to share the experiences and knowledge, which may be useful to those witnesses who, for whatever reason, were interrogated without a lawyer. I will try to present the information easily, clearly and simply, since this article is intended for a wide audience and, it is likely that those who will read this article will know nothing in the sphere of law.

So, let's come to the point.

You received a summon or you received a call from the police, saying that you are called for questioning as a witness. At the same time the officers designate a specific time when you have to appear for questioning. The fact that you work in that time does not give you the right to ignore the call of the investigator, since the presence of the summon frees you from work at the time of questioning. According to paragraph 1 part 4 article 78 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter the Criminal Procedure Code), the witness is obliged to appear when summoned by inquiry officer, investigator, prosecutor and court. So you came to the police department in due time. When the investigator asked you for a cup of tea and questioning in an informal setting, you, of course, if the temptation is great...