WITNESS PROTECTION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY AMONG USA, UK, FRANCE, AND INDIA

“Whenever a man commits a crime, heaven finds a witness”

                                                                                             –  Edward G. Bulwer

The above statement shows the importance of witness in any criminal justice system. The role of witness in the criminal justice administration is extremely inevitable especially in an adversarial system where the burden of proof is on the prosecution and the prosecution depends on the witness and their statements. There are instances where witnesses had turned hostile and refused to help in finding the guilty of the accused person resulting in the acquittal of the accused who may have been guilty of charges. This poses threat to society because the question arises why witness has turned hostile or why they had not come forward in the first place to give evidence and perform their sacred duty of helping the justice system.

When a person is to testify against a criminal particularly those having political, financial and man power to cause harm, they fear for their well-being and fail to fulfil their ethical duty to support the truth. Thus, the governments across the world recognised the need to protect witness to ensure the delivery of justice and enacted witness protection programmes. The study of witness protection programs in the US, UK, France, and India reveals significant differences in structures, implementation, and effectiveness, despite varying protection and resource allocation. This article highlights the development of witness protection programmes in United States, United Kingdom, France, and India.