The Child Witness
The Future of Evidence: How Science & Technology Will Change the Practice of Law (American Bar Association) 2011
24 Pages Posted: 17 May 2015
Date Written: 2011
Abstract
The treatment of children as witnesses has evolved, particularly in the last quarter century. Competence standards have been relaxed or eliminated to assure the child's voice is heard; special accommodations may be allowed to make the courtroom less strange and forbidding; hearsay rules have been adjusted or newly created ones have been adopted to allow out-of-court statements, particularly in sexual assault and abuse cases; and psychological research continues into child witness accuracy and suggestibility and better interviewing techniques. This chapter addresses all of these changes, both retrospectively and as they unfold.
Keywords: children, witnesses, evidence
JEL Classification: K40
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation