Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes

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725 ILCS 5/115-16

(725 ILCS 5/115-16)

Sec. 115-16. Witness disqualification.

No person shall
be disqualified as a witness in a
criminal case or proceeding by reason of his or her interest in the event of
the case or proceeding, as a party or otherwise, or by reason of
his or her having been convicted of a crime; but the
interest or conviction may be shown for the purpose of affecting the
credibility of the witness. A defendant in
a criminal case or proceeding shall only at his or her own request
be deemed a competent witness, and the person's neglect to testify shall not
create a presumption against the person, nor shall the court permit
a reference or comment to be made to or upon that
neglect.

In criminal cases, husband and wife may testify for or against each
other. Neither, however, may testify as to any
communication or admission
made by either of them to the other or as to any conversation between them
during marriage, except in cases in which either is charged with
an offense against the person or property of the other, in case of
spouse abandonment, when the interests of their child or
children or of any child or children in either spouse's care, custody, or
control are directly involved, when either is charged with or under investigation for an offense under Section 11-1.20, 11-1.30, 11-1.40, 11-1.50, 11-1.60, 12-13,
12-14, 12-14.1, 12-15, or 12-16 of the
Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012 and the victim is a minor under 18 years of age in
either spouse's care, custody, or control at the time of the offense, or
as to matters in which either has acted as agent of the other.

(Source: P.A. 96-1242, eff. 7-23-10; 96-1551, eff. 7-1-11; 97-1150, eff. 1-25-13.)