Children and Cross-Examination

Time to Change the Rules?
1. Auflage 2012
ISBN: 978-1-84946-307-2
Verlag: Bloomsbury 3PL

Buch, Englisch, 314 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 485 g

In 2009, Stephen Barker was convicted of rape on the evidence of a little girl who was four-and-a-half years old at the trial, and about three-and-a-half when first interviewed by the police. The high point of the proceedings was the child's appearance as a live witness in order for Barker's counsel to attempt a cross-examination.This case focused attention on the need, imposed by current English law, for even tiny children to come to court for a live cross-examination. In 1989, the Pigot Committee proposed a scheme under which the whole of a young child's evidence, including cross-examination, would be obtained out of court and in advance of trial. In 1999 a provision designed to give effect to this was included in the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act, but it has not yet been brought into force.The full Pigot proposal was implemented, however, in Western Australia, and similar schemes operate in a number of European jurisdictions. This book of essays examines a number of these schemes, and argues the case for further reforms in the UK.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Spencer, John R

Spencer, John

Lamb, Michael E

Lamb, Michael

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik Innen-, Bildungs- und Bevölkerungspolitik
• Rechtswissenschaften Ausländisches Recht Common Law (UK, USA, Australien u.a.)
• Rechtswissenschaften Recht, Rechtswissenschaft Allgemein Rechtspolitik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Introduction JR Spencer2. 'Kicking and Screaming'the Slow Road to Best Evidence Joyce Plotnikoff and Richard Woolfson3. Alternative Routes: Accusatorial Jurisdictions on the Slow Road to Best Evidence Emily Henderson4. Children's Evidence in Legal Proceedingsthe Position in Western Australia Hal Jackson5. Cross-Examining the Child Complainant: Rights, Innovations and Unfounded Fears in the Australian Context Annie Cossins6. An Idea Whose Time has Come: The Reform of Criminal Procedure for Child Witnesses in New Zealand Emily Henderson7. Child Witnesses in Austria Verena Murschetz8. The Position in Norway Trond Myklebust9. Conclusions JR Spencer10. The Pigot Report 1989 (reprinted)

Über Autor(innen)

Spencer, John
John R Spencer QC is Professor of Law in the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Selwyn College.

Lamb, Michael
Michael E Lamb is Professor and Head of the Department of Social and Development Psychology and a Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University.

John R Spencer QC is Professor of Law and a Fellow of Selwyn College at the University of Cambridge.

Michael E Lamb is Professor of Psychology and a Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, at the University of Cambridge.