律宏長鏡頭 | 美國法下的“親屬相隱”制度

在我國，漢有“親親得相首匿”；唐有 “同居相為隱”；明有“妻妾告夫及夫之祖父母者，杖一百徒三年”?，F(xiàn)行刑訴法也規(guī)定夫妻、父子之間可以不當(dāng)庭指控對方的犯罪行為。這些制度旨在維護(hù)家庭穩(wěn)定。那大洋彼岸的美國是如何處理這個問題的呢？

Under the Federal Rules of Evidence, there are two distinct spousal privileges: the testimony privilege and the privilege for confidential material communication.

上白話：在美國證據(jù)法下，夫妻之間有兩類特權(quán)，一個是不作證的權(quán)利，一個是交流保密的權(quán)利。

Testimony Privilege

免證特權(quán)

As long as a valid marriage exists at the time of trial, a married person whose spouse is a defendant in a criminal case may not be called as a witness by the prosecution. Moreover, a married person may not be compelled to testify against the legal interest of their spouse in any criminal proceeding, regardless of whether the spouse is the defendant. This applies even if the events at issue took place before the marriage. The purpose of the privilege is to protect the harmony of an existing marriage. However, the privilege belongs only to the witness-spouse who may choose to do so.

上白話：刑事案件環(huán)境下（民事案件不適用哦），不論大哥什么時候犯的罪（比如大哥還在把妹的時候就告訴妹他搶劫了銀行），只要在開庭的時候那個妹已經(jīng)是他老婆，妹就可以自行選擇是否作為證人指控大哥。所以記住了，大哥要對大嫂好點，這個選擇權(quán)在大嫂，一旦大嫂開撕你，你基本就涼了。

Privilege for confidential 

marital communication

夫妻交流保密特權(quán)

In any civil or criminal case, confidential communications between spouses during a valid marriage are privileged（no third party present, except young children）. Each spouse can refuse to disclose the communication or prevent any other person from doing so. For this privilege to apply, the marital relationship must exist when the communication is made. The rationale for the privilege is to encourage candor between spouses.

上白話：民事或者刑事案件中（適用范圍很廣），大哥對大嫂說開車的時候撞了人，后來他們離婚了，大嫂已不再是大嫂了，但是大嫂也不能泄密，就算她想，大哥也有權(quán)阻止她，只要說這個話的時候他們兩個人是夫妻關(guān)系就行。

Exceptions

例外：

Neither privilege applies in the following situations:

? Communications or acts in furtherance of a future joint crime or fraud;

? In legal actions between the spouses; or

? In case where a spouse is charged with a crime against the testifying spouse or either spouse’s children.

上白話：這個特權(quán)在這些情況下是玩不了的：一是大哥和大嫂聊怎么可以更好的實施共同犯罪或者欺詐；二是大哥和大嫂之間的法律訴訟；三是大哥對大嫂或他們的娃實施犯罪行為的案件。

作者介紹

延彬彬律師

現(xiàn)為上海律宏律師事務(wù)所合伙人律師，民革黨員。先后被評為民革上海市委三八紅旗手、民革普陀區(qū)委先進(jìn)個人，并在第一屆上海律師學(xué)術(shù)大賽中獲“代理詞評選”優(yōu)秀獎，持有證券從業(yè)資格證、上海市知識產(chǎn)權(quán)工作者證等。

執(zhí)業(yè)領(lǐng)域：

不良資產(chǎn)處置，企業(yè)法律顧問，各類合同糾紛，勞動人事糾紛，婚姻家庭糾紛的處理，刑事案件以及行政案件的處理，醫(yī)療器械行業(yè)法律服務(wù)等。

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每個人都值得擁有自己的私人律師。

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