1. Observes that the requirement of confidentiality set out by the Directive already existed in certain Member States' domestic legislation: in Bulgaria, the Code of Civil Procedure states that mediators can refuse to testify about a dispute they have mediated; in France and Poland the laws governing civil mediation establish similar provisions; notes that, among the Member States, Italy adopts a rigorous approach to the confidentiality of mediation proceedings, whilst the Swedish mediation rules state that confidentiality is not automatic and require an agreement between the parties to that effect; considers that a more coherent appr ...[+++]oach seems to be needed;

If someone makes use of this right to refuse to give evidence – for example, a man who had been with a prostitute who had been endangered through human trafficking – information will be lost that could be used further to finally uncover this network of human traffickers.

Where a Member State’s legislation provides for the right to refuse to give evidence, persons referred to in paragraph 2 asked to give evidence shall be required to obtain permission to do so.

Requiring the accused to testify was not incompatible with the ECHR, although it would be if any conviction were based solely or mainly on a refusal to testify.

- where appropriate, a reference to a right to refuse to testify under the law of the Member State of the requesting court,

9. Each Member State shall take the necessary measures to ensure that, where witnesses or experts are being heard within its territory in accordance with this Article and refuse to testify when under an obligation to testify or do not testify the truth, its national law applies in the same way as if the hearing took place in a national procedure.