人权保护视野下的证人隐名制度

Witness Anonymity in Criminal Procedure Law——From the Perspective of Human Rights Protection

在刑事诉讼程序中授予某些证人隐名,是国际法庭和西方国家普遍的做法。证人隐名是投入资源最少,往往也是最为有效的保护证人安全与隐私利益的举措,是建立证人出庭制度的重要一环。允许证人在作证时不披露身份,可能会影响被追诉人质证权的行使,损害被追诉人接受公正审判的权利。为此,国际社会与各国设立的证人隐名制度,通常都设计了较为详细的证据规则与程序保障机制,以实现被追诉人与证人之间的利益平衡。了解证人隐名制度的运行状况与其中蕴含的价值选择,有助于我国证人出庭制度乃至庭审制度的借鉴与改革。

It is a common practice to grant witness anonymity in criminal proceedings both in international courts and domestic courts. Witness anonymity requires the least resources but it is probably the most effective measure to guarantee the witness＇s security and privacy interests. However, denying the accused the access to the identification of the witnesses may undermine his right to fair trial. Thus international tribunals and domestic courts usually make detailed evidence rules and procedural safeguards to achieve a balance of interests between the accused and the anonymous witnesses. The understanding of how the witness anonymity works and the values it involves will contribute to our reform on witness testifying and trial model transformation.