The Reliability of the Child as a Witness

ny discussion of children as witnesses has to consider several areas. These include the competence of a child and the degree of stress which may result to the child from being a witness in court. In recent years a body of literature has been developed on children's memory and some of this can be applied to children as witnesses. In the meantime, more research is needed to identify which age groups of children can be regularly regarded as being good witnesses and which younger age groups may be less reliable. If it could be shown that children below a certain age were not good witnesses then these children could be spared the stress of court appearances. Similarly if it could be shown that children above a certain age are just as reliable as adult witnesses, then this knowledge would help counteract some of the current prejudice that children may not be reliable witnesses. Hand in hand with this search for more knowledge should be a careful evaluation of finding more effective ways of children being able to give evidence and the development within the legal profession of skills in talking with children.