ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a historical evolution of the practice of witness protection and how it shapes the way crimes requiring witness protection are construed. It highlights the extent to which human rights driven arguments affect the scope of crime. Also, the chapter considers the relevance of ‘securitization’ as a central aspect of the criminal justice perspective for delimiting the scope of crimes. It underscores specific underlying characteristics, which reflect the scope of crimes within witness protection literature reflecting the practice within national jurisdictions, as well as under international law and international criminal law. The chapter accentuates areas of convergence in the practice of witness protection discourse and emphasizes the similarities in the crime threats that justified the emergence of witness protection within national criminal justice systems.
