responsibility in case of refusal in providing testimonies and providing false
testimonies.
In case there are no obstacles in questioning a witness, the court chairman
accompanies the witness to administer an oath. Court is obliged to control the
questioning process of witnesses to avoid wasting time, protect witnesses from the
offence or to prevent violation of the questioning guidelines. Each witness is
questioned separately. Witnesses yet to be questioned are not allowed to be in the court
room while court hearing. Witness for the prosecution is questioned by the prosecutor
first, meanwhile witness for the defense – by the defender if defendant took the defense
on him/herself – defendant (direct testimony).
After the direct testimony, the other party of the criminal proceedings is given an
opportunity for cross-examining of the witness. During the cross-examination of the
witness it is allowed to ask guiding questions.
A witness during a court hearing can be under the stress possibly caused by the
fear of talking in public, responsibility, doubts regarding his/her own evidence, worry
concerning cross-examination etc.
That’s why a volunteer can provide psychological support to the witness and
his/her relatives, who showed up for the court hearing. Let’s analyze the obligations of
the volunteers in the court regarding working with witnesses.
In general, a volunteer is a person who decides to do some type of work for the
organization for free, not expecting any rewards, and does this work according to the
objectives and missions of the organization. A person, who freely offers to undertake
different useful tasks, a person who habitually cares about others by helping them
absolutely freely and without any benefits/rewards, but the reward for the conducted
work is an appreciation and gratitude of the people who received their help. Besides,
volunteers get useful knowledge, new acquaintances, and communication with people
of different destinies. A volunteer is a person, who actively takes responsibility to
implement the project being self-driven, without being forced and not demanding any
pay for that, doing it on a voluntary basis.
The reasons why a person wants to become a volunteer are numerous. The
following ones can be highlighted:
1.
A feeling of being a part of some good deed (a volunteer gets satisfaction from
doing a good and useful deed that really changes the community for better and
positively impacts lives of other people).
2.
Acquiring new skills and knowledge (a volunteer can gain new skills or
improve his/her knowledge. By undertaking some tasks, one can become a real
specialist. Volunteering helps overcome one’s fears, take a new unknown challenge
and try something new).
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