Title II - General Immunity

This title repeals or conforms the over fifty existing federal immunity statutes and establishes a uniform federal immunity statute to apply to proceedings before or ancillary to a court, grand jury, or agency of the United States, either house of Congress, or its joint committees, committees or subcommittees. The scope of immunity granted protects a witness from the use of his testimony or its fruits in a future criminal prosecution, but does not protect him from prosecution itself. This reflects a positive decision by Congress that the fifth amendment self-incrimination clause only requires a grant of what has been referred to as "use" or "testimonial" immunity rather than "transactional" immunity. Originally, this provision was promulgated to strengthen the evidence gathering process against organized crime: it applied only to court and grand jury proceedings.

Subsequently, the recommendations of the National Commission on Reform of Federal Criminal Laws were adopted establishing a general federal immunity statute that applied to legislative and administrative proceedings as well as judicial proceedings.