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Witness assistance
Another aspect of schirach. law's legal work is advising and representing witnesses as witness counsel. Pursuant to Section 68b (1) of the German Code of Criminal Procedure, every witness has the right to consult a lawyer to assist and advise them during questioning.
Witness assistance in white-collar criminal proceedings and criminal tax proceedings
Witnesses are exposed to enormous conflicts of interest in criminal proceedings. Particularly in white-collar criminal law and criminal tax law, it makes sense to consult a witness counsel due to the complexity of the facts. This applies all the more if these extend across different company levels or even beyond company boundaries. It is then often difficult for witnesses to maintain an overview and adequately assess their own rights and obligations. The witnesses are often employees of the company involved in the criminal proceedings who are in a conflict of loyalty with their employer or fear that they themselves will become the accused. The aim is not to influence the witness, but to prepare them for the upcoming situation.
Tasks of the witness counsel
One of the tasks of the witness counsel is to inform the witness about possible rights such as the right to refuse to testify or provide information and to prepare them for the interrogation situation, in particular with regard to the duty to testify and the duty to tell the truth. However, the Code of Criminal Procedure does not grant a comprehensive right to refuse to testify. Instead, according to Section 55 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, only those questions may remain unanswered if answering them could expose the witness or close relatives to the risk of prosecution under criminal or regulatory law. In a stressful situation, it is difficult for legal laypersons to assess which questions fall into this category. It is generally known that intentionally making a false statement in court is a punishable offense (Section 154 StGB). However, it is less well known that the negligent making of a false statement and the negligent making of a false affidavit are also punishable (§ 163 StGB). schirach.law protects the procedural powers and rights of witnesses during their examination. Based on our experience in the context of individual defense, possible risks for witnesses can be identified at an early stage and any rights to information or refusal to testify can be competently assessed.
Presence of the witness counsel
The witness counsel has the right to be present at the hearing. Only in exceptional cases, for example if there is suspicion of involvement in the crime (in accordance with Section 68b (1) sentence 4 no. 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure), can they be excluded from the hearing. The presence of a witness counsel at the hearing can already lead to the rights of the witness being better respected and unfair treatment being avoided. During the hearing, the witness advocate ensures that inadmissible questions, such as derogatory or judgmental questions, are warded off. He can also insist on clear and comprehensible questioning for the witness in the event of leading questions or unclear formulations. If the statement is recorded in minutes, he will ensure that the minutes do not contain any errors that could be detrimental to the witness.
schirach.law specializes in acting as witness counsel and supports you during your questioning as a witness at the criminal investigation department, the public prosecutor's office, in court, during questioning in the context of internal investigations and parliamentary committees of inquiry.
