Subtitle I: The Assize Court

Witnesses called by the public prosecutor or the parties shall be heard in the debate, even if they have not given evidence at the hearing, or if they have not been summoned, provided that their names have been served in accordance with the provisions of article 281.

The public prosecutor and the parties may object to the examination of a witness whose name has not been served on them or who has been irregularly served on them. The court shall rule on such objection. If it is found to be well founded, such witnesses may be heard, as information, under the discretionary power of the president.

The witnesses testify separately from each other, in the order established by the president. The witnesses must, at the request of the president, state their surname, first names, age, profession, domicile or residence, whether they knew the accused before the fact mentioned in the committal order, whether they are related or allied, either to the accused or to the civil party, and to what degree. The president also asked them…

After each statement, the president may put questions to the witnesses. The public prosecutor, as well as counsel for the accused and the civil party, the accused and the civil party have the same option, under the conditions determined in article 312. When it seems necessary to the clarity and smooth running of the proceedings, the president may interrupt the statements of a witness or ask him questions directly without…

The President shall have the Registrar draw up, of his own motion or at the request of the Public Prosecutor or the parties, a record of any additions, changes or variations that may exist between the testimony of a witness and his previous statements. These minutes are attached to the minutes of the hearing.

Each witness, after giving evidence, shall remain in the courtroom, if the chairman does not order otherwise, until the close of the proceedings.

The following depositions may not be received under oath: 1° Of the father, mother or any other ascendant of the accused, or of one of the accused present and subject to the same debate; 2° Of the son, daughter, or any other descendant; 3° Of brothers and sisters ; 4° Of relatives of the same degree; 5° Of the husband or wife, partner bound to the accused by a civil…

Nevertheless, the hearing under oath of the persons designated by the preceding article shall not entail nullity where neither the public prosecutor nor any of the parties has objected to the taking of the oath. In the event of opposition by the public prosecutor or one or more of the parties, the witness may be heard as information, by virtue of the discretionary power of the president.

A person who, acting by virtue of a legal obligation or on his own initiative, has brought the acts being prosecuted to the attention of the courts, shall be received as a witness, but the president shall notify the assize court. A person whose denunciation is rewarded pecuniarily by law may be heard as a witness, unless there is opposition from one of the parties or the public prosecutor.

The public prosecutor, as well as the civil party and the accused, may request, and the president may always order, that a witness withdraw momentarily from the courtroom, after his or her testimony, to be introduced and heard if necessary after further testimony, with or without confrontation.