Child Witness in UK Law

Leading Cases
  • R v Barker (Steven)
    • Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
    • 20 April 2010

    Like adults some children will provide truthful and accurate testimony, and some will not. However children are not miniature adults, but children, and to be treated and judged for what they are, not what they will, in years ahead, grow to be. In trial by jury, his or her credibility is to be assessed by the jury, taking into account every specific personal characteristic which may bear on the issue of credibility, along with the rest of the available evidence.

    At the same time the right of the defendant to a fair trial must be undiminished. When the issue is whether the child is lying or mistaken in claiming that the defendant behaved indecently towards him or her, it should not be over-problematic for the advocate to formulate short, simple questions which put the essential elements of the defendant's case to the witness, and fully to ventilate before the jury the areas of evidence which bear on the child's credibility.

    There will naturally and inevitably be case specific occasions when undue delay may render a trial unfair, and may lead to the exclusion of the evidence of the child on competency grounds. Making all allowances for these considerations, we are satisfied, as the judge was, that this particular child continued to satisfy the competency requirement.

  • R (DPP) v Redbridge Youth Court
    • Queen's Bench Division (Administrative Court)
    • 22 March 2001

    Again the court is required to strike a balance, on this occasion between the right of the defendant to have a hearing in accordance with the norm and the need to provide protection in accordance with the legislative purpose, in the interests not only of the child witness but also of justice, to ensure that the witness will be able to give evidence and give evidence unaffected by the stress of appearing in court itself.

  • B (A Child)
    • Supreme Court
    • 12 June 2013

    In a child case the judge develops a face-to-face, bench-to-witness-box, acquaintanceship with each of the candidates for the care of the child. But the corollary is the difficulty of mounting a successful appeal against a judge's decision about the future arrangements for a child.

  • R v Janusz Marian Malicki
    • Court of Appeal (Criminal Division)
    • 12 February 2009

    It seems to us to be a near impossible task to undertake an effective cross-examination in those circumstances when the cross-examination must depend for its effectiveness on probing what actually happened in the course of the incident itself and immediately after it, not just going over what the complainant said in her interview. These problems go beyond the normal difficulties of recollection with an adult witness or an older child.

  • Re S (A Child) (Identification: Restrictions on Publication)
    • House of Lords
    • 28 October 2004

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Legislation
  • Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999
    • UK Non-devolved
    • January 01, 1999
    ... ... (1) For the purposes of this Chapter a witness in criminal proceedings (other than the accused) is eligible for ... 2(c)(xix) (with art. 3) ... 21: Special provisions relating to child witnesses ... (1) For the purposes of this section—(a) a witness in ... ...
  • Vulnerable Witnesses (Scotland) Act 2004
    • Scotland
    • January 01, 2004
    ... ... own defence at the trial and any victim statement proof where a child witness under the age of 12 is to give evidence at the trial; to enable ... ...
  • Coroners and Justice Act 2009
    • UK Non-devolved
    • January 01, 2009
    ... ... persons from an inquest during the giving of evidence by a witness under the age of 18, if the coroner is of the opinion that doing so would ... 's death, means—(a) a spouse, civil partner, partner, parent, child, brother, sister, grandparent, grandchild, child of a brother or sister, ... ...
  • The Family Procedure Rules 2010
    • UK Non-devolved
    • January 01, 2010
    ... ... Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982 , sections 10 and 24 of the Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985 , section 97(1) of the Children Act 1989 , ... of the Service or a Welsh family proceedings officer appointed to witness the documents which signify a parent's or guardian's consent to the ... ...
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Books & Journal Articles
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Law Firm Commentaries
  • Immigration Tribunal Appeals - A Practical Guide (4)
    • Mondaq UK
    ... ... additional needs for a vulnerable or a child witness. You may ... need to consider whether there should be a ... ...
  • How To Appeal A UK Visa Or Immigration Refusal
    • Mondaq UK
    ... ... the couple have now had a child and this has not previously been ... considered by the SSHD, because the ... additional needs for a vulnerable or child witness. You may need to ... consider whether there should be a preliminary ... ...
  • NDAs And Tribunal Witness Orders – Which Prevails?
    • Mondaq UK
    ... ... declined to assist her, praying in her defence both the NDA and also that the hearing would be within a few weeks only after the birth of her child ... Christie applied for a witness order in respect of Ms L under Rule 32 of the ET Rules of Procedure 2013. This says that the ET "may order any ... ...
  • NDAs and Tribunal witness orders – which prevails? (UK)
    • LexBlog United Kingdom
    In all the hoo-hah around the use of NDAs in settlement agreement, no one yet seems to have asked the question of what happens if you sign such an agreement and are then called as witness to the Em...
    ... ... declined to assist her, praying in her defence both the NDA and also that the hearing would be within a few weeks only after the birth of her child. Christie applied for a witness order in respect of Ms L under Rule 32 of the ET Rules of Procedure 2013. This says that the ET may order any person ... ...
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Forms
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