Informants

I was reading quite an interesting article on new set of rules regarding informants, due to be set up shortly in Kuwait .
The figure of the informant, is a very tricky one, under two profiles : ethical and judicial .

Under the ethical point of view, if strict norms are not laid, the relationship between the policeman and his periodic informant, could turn as a boomerang against the police, because all of a sudden, the person, namely the one giving out news on illicit activities, hence one who is clean from legal procedures, but mingling within the crime world, could be accusing the policeman of bad practices .
And the reward, in this case, is a correct solution, as we officially know, what is the prize for the information .
If not known, some time later the informant, might be accusing the policeman, to have allowed him to participate to criminal acts without charging him, after having received valuable news .
In most countries, this aspect is not fixed as the relation is not official .
In some cases not even the public prosecutor or the head of the police department, is allowed to know the whereabouts of the informant, and the terms of the collaboration with the office .

Another important factor, is the judicial value of the information .
If the news are given not officially, then they are just a hint , which needs of course to be verified, to start an investigation, but later on, they cannot be used during the trial and the informant cannot be examined by the court, as a testimony .

All these details are source of discussion among professionals .
Indeed Kuwait move, has brought new light into the field .