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The Federal Republic of Germany has one of the most stable criminal procedure laws in Europe. The German Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP) was adopted in 1887 and is now applied as amended on April 7, 1987. It reflects the general ideas of the democratic reforms of criminal procedure that took part in the 19th century. Witness’ status in the German CCP is described in Chapter 6 ‘Witnesses’ of Book 1 ‘General Provisions’. The Witness chapter contain the terms setting out: a witness’s rights and obligations, procedure of interrogation of witnesses and certain categories of persons (federal President, MPs and ministers), a witness’s oath, compensation as well as legal counsel. One of the main differences of the German law from that of Ukraine is that in the German CCP witness’ status is described in a separate chapter specifying their rights and obligations, while in the Ukrainian CCP these are included in ‘Other Participants of Criminal Proceedings’. The German CCP does not focus on the definition of a witness as much as in the Ukrainian CCP – this is what makes German CCP really specific as it contains no definitions of the terms used therein. Therefore, the legislator enabled to develop them in the criminal procedural doctrine and jurisprudence. In Germany, ‘witness’ is most commonly defined by the reference to the definition that was made up by the Supreme Court of the German Empire: ‘A witness is the person who, without taking any other procedural position, should inform the judge about the facts such person perceived.’ Looking at the German testimony concept we can say that it was created in old times together with the legal process itself, and evolved under the influence of a variety of circumstances, mainly due to the transition from one type of criminal procedure to another., Стаття присвячена правовому становищу свідка у Кримінально-процесуальному кодексі Федеративної Республіки Німеччини (далі - КПК ФРН). Автор досліджує основні норми КПК ФРН, які регулюють права та обов'язки свідка. Сформульовано відповідні пропозиції щодо вдосконалення чинного Кримінального процесуального кодексу України (далі - КПК України).

Стаття присвячена правовому становищу свідка у Кримінально-процесуальному кодексі Федеративної Республіки Німеччини (далі – КПК ФРН). Автор досліджує основні норми КПК ФРН, які регулюють права та обов'язки свідка. Сформульовано відповідні пропозиції щодо вдосконалення чинного Кримінального процесуального кодексу України (далі – КПК України). The Federal Republic of Germany has one of the most stable criminal procedure laws in Europe. The German Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP) was adopted in 1887 and is now applied as amended on April 7, 1987. It reflects the general ideas of the democratic reforms of criminal procedure that took part in the 19th century. Witness’ status in the German CCP is described in Chapter 6 ‘Witnesses’ of Book 1 ‘General Provisions’. The Witness chapter contain the terms setting out: a witness's rights and obligations, procedure of interrogation of witnesses and certain categories of persons (federal President, MPs and ministers), a witness’s oath, compensation as well as legal counsel. One of the main differences of the German law from that of Ukraine is that in the German CCP witness’ status is described in a separate chapter specifying their rights and obligations, while in the Ukrainian CCP these are included in ‘Other Participants of Criminal Proceedings’. The German CCP does not focus on the definition of a witness as much as in the Ukrainian CCP – this is what makes German CCP really specific as it contains no definitions of the terms used therein. Therefore, the legislator enabled to develop them in the criminal procedural doctrine and jurisprudence. In Germany, ‘witness’ is most commonly defined by the reference to the definition that was made up by the Supreme Court of the German Empire: ‘A witness is the person who, without taking any other procedural position, should inform the judge about the facts such person perceived.’ Looking at the German testimony concept we can say that it was created in old times together with the legal process itself, and evolved under the influence of a variety of circumstances, mainly due to the transition from one type of criminal procedure to another. Статья посвящена правовому положению свидетеля в Уголовно-процессуальном кодексе Федеративной Республики Германии (дальше – КПК ФРГ). Автор исследует основные нормы КПК ФРГ, которые регулируют права и обязанности свидетеля. Сформулированы соответствующие предложения по совершенствованию действующего Уголовного процессуального кодекса Украины (дальше – УПК Украины).