One of the most important stages of organization of successful criminal case consideration is usage of testimonies given by witness/victims who help to ascertain the truth at the trial stage. As a proof of this J.Bentham said “Witnesses are the eyes and the ears of justice.”
Hence, the importance of measures aimed at protecting the witness’s identity should be put in the first place for any criminal jurisdiction.
We may single out the following categories of witnesses who may require protection:
• Victim-witnesses – witnesses who are direct victims of the crime undergoing prosecution. These are the people who had been severely physically or mentally traumatized by the events of the offence or otherwise suffering from a serious mental condition rendering her/him unusually sensitive, and a child and a juvenile;
• Justice collaborators – people, including convicted offenders, facing related criminal charges who decide to cooperate with prosecutors by giving testimony;
• Other types of witnesses which may include expert witnesses who testify because of their specific knowledge, such as forensic experts. Also there could other witnesses such as insider witnesses or police officers, who may or may not have criminal charges against them despite their close affiliation to the accused, or eyewitnesses to the criminal activities under question.