Specific measures for vulnerable or intimidated witnesses;
1. Auxiliary communication; Witnesses have the right to give evidence in their language of choice, including if an interpreter is required.
2. Swearing in of witnesses; The swearing in of witnesses shall be conducted according to their religion.
3. Cross-examination;
4. Notification of Verdict and case developments; Witnesses have the right to be informed of case developments, including the verdict.
5. Appeal;
6. Claim of Expenses; Witnesses may claim compensation for expenses incurred for testifying, including any loss of income while attending court to give evidence.
7. Complaint.
Implementation of Witness and Victim Protection in the United States
The United States provides protection for crimes at the federal or state level committed by the US Marshal Service. The central government of the United States only provides hotel accommodation for the protection of witnesses and victims for a few days until the case is heard. In the context of witness protection, the United States has 4 main protection programs, namely the emergency witness assistance program managed by the prosecutor's office, the protection scheme run by the US Marshal Service, legal protection and protection in court hearings. Meanwhile, in the context of victim protection in the United States, there are 3 basic things for victims in the victim protection program, namely the right to security and safety, the right to information and the right to participation.
The United States implements a witness and victim protection program based on the Witness Protection Act of 1984 (Witness Security Reform Act of 1984) which is carried out by the witness protection program unit, which is under the auspices of the Department of Justice in the criminal division, with the agency name being the Office of Enforcement Operations special witness protection unit. The unit is authorized to establish representative offices in each state as part of the Department of Justice by integrating it into the duties and functions of other agencies, such as public prosecutors, the Attorney General's Office, the US Marshals Service or other security units such as the FBI, Bureau of Prison, courts, the Immigration and Naturalization Office and state governments.
The United States has developed a number of witness protection programs at both the federal and metropolitan levels. At the federal level, the national-scale witness protection program is within a legal framework to ensure that what is done to protect witnesses is considered lawful.
Closing
In developing a criminal justice system in Indonesia that is good with regard to the protection of witnesses and victims, the government needs to look at protection systems in other countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States. This needs to be used as a comparative study criminal law with other countries that have standards of protection for witnesses and victims so that it can be useful in the development and modernization of a better Indonesian criminal justice system. For example, the idea of informal resolution involving all parties to resolve cases of crime victims called a "plea conference" needs to be considered as an alternative to resolving cases of crime victims outside the courts in Indonesia.
*This article represents the opinion the author's personal opinion and does not represent the views of the Literasi Hukum Indonesia editorial team.
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