Social and Legal Studios

Abstract

The problem of granting priest by the right to witness immunity and his exception from the circle of persons that can be interrogated as a witness in criminal proceedings, causes a lot of discussions. There are features of participation of a priest in criminal proceedings. Criminal-procedural relations are characterized by public principle. However, in the sphere of the criminal proceedings, the interests of private persons, must be taken into account in the legal regulation. Problems of granting a priest by immunity of witness and regulation of his participating in criminal-procedural relations belong to debatable in a criminal-proceedings doctrine. A current legislation (in particular, criminal procedural) regulates this question contradictory and inconsistently. Not all confessions recognize the secret of confession, and, accordingly, the of confession secret is absent. At the same time existent legislative approach in relation to the question of release of priest from testifying takes into account interests of priests and believers only those confessions, in which the secret of confession is recognized as the sacrament. Not all religious organizations passed the state registration. The provisions of the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine are formulated in way to give advantage to the believers of christian confessions. It violates the principle of equality before law and court on the grounds of religion. The possibility of release a priest from a duty to keep a professional secret by trustee rudely violates bases of christian religion. The suggestion to change the current criminal-procedural legislation taking into account of the mentioned problems and contradictions is carried out

Keywords: immunity of witness, priest, secret of confession, refusal of testimony

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