Witness in court; summons

A summons to appear as a witness must always be complied with. Failure to do so or a groundless refusal to testify can have serious consequences.

If you are summoned as a witness in criminal or civil proceedings, you are obliged to appear in court on the specified date. If you fail to appear, you must expect to be fined - or even imprisoned if you fail to pay - and to be ordered to pay the costs of the hearing at which you were unable to appear due to your absence. Furthermore, your absence may result in you being forcibly produced by the police.

A witness is generally obliged to testify. A right to refuse to testify only exists in special circumstances, for example in the case of close relatives of the defendant or the parties to the proceedings. You will be informed of this at the beginning of your testimony. You also do not need to make any statements that would put yourself or one of your close relatives at risk of being prosecuted for a criminal offense or an administrative offense. In the event of an unjustified refusal to testify, you will again be threatened with a fine - possibly imprisonment -, the imposition of costs and possibly even detention to enforce the testimony.

If you already have other commitments on the day of the hearing, please bear in mind that other people will be attending the hearing in addition to you. They have a legitimate interest in the case being decided as soon as possible or that a necessary postponement is communicated as early as possible. You are therefore obliged to inform the court immediately of your inability to attend and the reasons for this and, if necessary, to provide evidence. You are only released from the obligation to attend the hearing if you are expressly informed of this by the court; if in doubt, it is advisable to contact the court by telephone.