Assignment of a lawyer for witnesses
As a witness, you can call on a lawyer for the duration of the hearing. This also applies if you are not the victim of the crime.
Witness lawyers are lawyers who exercise your rights for the duration of your examination. During the hearing, for example, you make sure that you do not provide any information if you do not have to answer certain questions.
If, as a witness, you are not in a position to exercise the powers to which you are entitled yourself due to special circumstances and your interests cannot be taken into account in any other way, you must be assisted by a lawyer if you do not yet have assistance.
The appointment of a lawyer as witness counsel is generally carried out ex officio by the competent court within the framework of the procedural duty of care, i.e. without the need for an application.
Nevertheless, in the event that you are unable to represent your legal interests, it is often advisable to file a corresponding application with the competent court as a precautionary measure.
Such a request may also be made by the prosecutor's office.
There is no specific form.
The court having jurisdiction to appoint a witness or before which the proceedings in which the examination of witnesses is to be held is pending.
If you bring a lawyer to the witness hearing as an assistant for support, you will generally have to pay the lawyer's fees yourself.
On the other hand, if the conditions for the appointment of a witness by the competent court are met, the lawyer's fees will be covered by the state treasury for you.
The appointment of a witness is made on request or ex officio, as a rule, before the start of the hearing. In principle, however, an assignment can also take place during the hearing.
The time it takes to process a request for witness assistance depends on the circumstances of the case. As a rule, however, a decision on the assignment will be made by the beginning of the hearing at the latest.
The text was automatically translated based on the German content.
