Witness

The testimony of a witness is of great importance in court. Witness statements are indispensable for clarifying many facts and therefore make a significant contribution to establishing the truth.

A witness is a person who gives evidence about a specific event in court. Witnesses describe their own perceptions in their testimony and represent important evidence in legal disputes or court proceedings. They are obliged to appear in court when summoned and to testify to the truth.

In principle, any person who has perceived something that may be of significance in court proceedings can be a witness.It does not matter on what grounds the person made the observations. It may even be sufficient if the witness can describe other people's accounts.

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You can find out how a witness interview works and what rights and obligations a witness has when giving evidence on the website of the Ministry of Justice of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Expenses incurred, such as loss of earnings, travel costs or other expenses incurred by a witness due to the court hearing, are reimbursed. You can find more information on the topic of witness and expert witness compensation under further information.