Witness immunity in civil proceedings: advantage or necessity?

The article is devoted to the study of the legal category “witness immunity”, which is used in civil proceedings. The question of the legal nature of the immunity of a witness in civil proceedings and the practical application of the norms of the current civil procedural legislation, which creates the possibility of the existence of such a legal category, is relevant in the conditions of the focus of the current legislation on the observance of human rights and the provision of guarantees for the realization of the rights and legitimate interests of a person. Therefore, special attention in the article is devoted to clarifying the legal benefit of witness immunity and the role of this legal instrument in ensuring the legal rights and interests of a person during the consideration of a civil case in court. Тhe article analyzes the norms of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine, which establish the legal status of a witness in civil proceedings. Particular attention was paid to the characteristic features of witness participation in civil proceedings. The author emphasizes the importance of protecting a person’s private interest during civil proceedings. During the research, it was established that the immunity of a witness in the scientific literature is interpreted both as the right of a person involved in the consideration of a civil case in court as a witness, and as a privilege that distinguishes a witness from other participants in the legal process. Based on the analysis of the norms of the current legislation and sources of scientific legal literature, conclusions were made that allow us to assert that the immunity of a witness in civil proceedings is a component of the procedural status of a witness. It was also concluded that the immunity of a witness is precisely the right of a person involved in the consideration of a court case as a witness, which is due to the need to observe the rights and freedoms of a person during civil proceedings, and is also a form of embodying the priority of a person’s private interests. And that is why it is not appropriate to consider the immunity of a witness as a privilege of a person and an advantage of the participation of a witness in civil proceedings in comparison with other participants in the judicial process.