Hi
In my language, there is a beautiful court term “wada maaf gawah”, which means:
wada = promise
maaf = forgive
gawah = witness of a crimnal (accomplice)
The accomplice who gives the police/ government/ or any other department information of the crime in which he himself was involved, but with the promise that he will not be trialed for that or forgiven for what happened.
So could you please tell me the English word for it?
Many thanks,
Tom
We say that the witness is granted immunity (from prosecution).
The legal term that you seek is “approver”.
The previous comment is incorrect because there is no legal immunity. However, for helping the authorities with evidence against the prime suspect, the court awards the lesser criminal or accessory with a reduced penalty or may even give pardon depending on the circumstances of the case.
I think @Tom was looking for the act of offering a plea bargain or negotiating a deal with a criminal who is willing to testify in court or give information about other suspects rather than the term for the person itself. And I don’t think the term ‘approver’ is still being used in modern legal English.
PS: Welcome to our forum 
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