The legal basis for requiring a witness to perform testimony is the Bahraini Procedures Act, Article 114 to Article 127, where the legislator has strengthened such commitment with a criminal penalty in case of violation, which may reach jail term of 3 months if the issue is a non-compliance with the orders of the investigating and trial authorities. The legislator was keen to give priority to the public interest than considering the personal interest of the defendant.
Terms of testimony include:
There should not be any contraindications for testimony in all conditions.
First term:
Testimony should be performed in front of one of the security departments without providing an oath – except when it is necessary – like when a traffic policeman examines a severe accident that might have led to a death, here the witness may provide an oath, but in other overall cases, the testimony before the security men will be for uncovering the truth.
However, testimony might be performed in front of investigation and trial authorities, either the occurrence of the crime was known or not, where Article 256 of the Penal Code stipulates that anyone who knows about the occurrence of a felony or misdemeanor, is committed to report it or report about its perpetrators.
Second term:
Testimony should be in the framework of the lawsuit and its proceedings, so if those who perform it, relate other stories, they should bear full responsibility for that, if their testimony was denied, like when someone is asked to testify in a homicide and directed the investigation authority to a crime of hiding stolen goods associated with the homicide, then he supported the investigation and justice to prove that the killing was for stealing.
Third term:
Availability of the good intention, for performing the testimony is a way of using one’s right, or it is considered an implementation of a legal duty. The legislator aims at achieving social justice through uncovering the truth, so this term assumes that the incident happened, and there was an effort of ensuring its accuracy and preserving its evidences from oblivion. This is like when someone records the plate number of a car whose driver exposes the citizens’ lives to danger, or has committed a crime, so the witness has to be accurate when recording the correct number in a memo, so not to indulge a driver of another car to legal accountability.
The good intention is not counted in case the witness wants to defame others, which is determined by the phrases use in the testimony and if it complies with the events of the lawsuit.
Refraining from testimony is counted in case of kinship till the fourth degree, out of preserving family considerations.