The Approach of the International Criminal Court towards the Process of Witness Proofing

In The Ad Hoc International Criminal Tribunals, in a process named witness proofing, influenced by the legal tradition which is current in the common law legal system, any of the parties for a dispute that has called a witness, is permitted to have some sessions with them and review the contents of their evidence before giving testimony at trial.In The International Criminal Court, the subject of this process came first into notice in The Pre-Trial Chamber presiding over the case of The Prosecutor V Thomas Lubanga in 2006 and that chamber declared the process of witness proofing as illegal. Following a request from The Prosecutor concerning the appeal of the verdict, judges of The Trial Chamber agreed on the availability of witnesses to any previous statements made by them to the investigators of the court. But discussing the contents of the evidence of a witness and coaching them on what they will say in the hearing, were declared to be forbidden.