Article 232: Prosecutor Cannot Call the Defendant

Décisions de la Cour suprême interprétant cette section

1. Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 1362/2561 (2018)

   The Section 232 bar on the prosecutor citing the defendant as a witness applies only to the defendant in the same case; using a defendant's testimony given in another case is not prohibited.

   The court held that Section 232 refers only to the defendant in the same case and does not bar the prosecutor from relying on the defendants' testimony given in other civil and criminal cases, so relying on that earlier testimony was lawful.

2. Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 1164/2547 (2004)

   Section 232 prohibits the prosecutor from citing only the defendant in the same case; a person separately prosecuted for the same conduct may be called as a prosecution witness.

   The defense argued that calling a person separately charged for the same forgery as a prosecution witness violated Section 232. The court held the bar applies only to the defendant in the same case, so a person prosecuted in a separate case could properly be a prosecution witness.

3. Arrêt de la Cour suprême n° 12569/2555 (2012)

   A person separately prosecuted may be called as a prosecution witness without breaching Section 232, but his statements implicating the defendant are accomplice testimony to be weighed cautiously under Section 227/1.

   The court held the prosecution could call a co-offender whose case had been severed, so Section 232 was not breached; however, that person's statements implicating the defendant in receiving stolen property were accomplice testimony requiring cautious weighing under Section 227/1.

Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.