Questioning Child Witnesses in New Zealand's Criminal Justice System: Is Cross-Examination Fair?
Questioning Child Witnesses in New Zealand's Criminal Justice System: Is Cross-Examination Fair?
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DOI：
10.1080/13218719.2011.615813
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发表时间：
2012-01-01
影响因子：
1.3
通讯作者：
Henderson, Emily
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Hanna, Kirsten;Davies, Emma;Henderson, Emily
在法医背景下对儿童进行讯问的方式可能会影响他们回答的准确性。过去的研究表明，儿童经常在新西兰法院受到讯问，其方式与最佳做法严重背道而驰。本研究分析了2008年在新西兰法院举行的刑事审判期间，法医面谈人员、检察官和辩护律师向18名儿童证人提出的问题。结果表明，正如以前的研究发现的那样，在盘问期间向儿童提出的许多问题在从儿童那里获得全面和准确的信息方面与最佳做法不一致。事实上，严重依赖封闭性、引导性和复杂性的问题，以及其他常见做法，令人怀疑交叉询问的法医安全性，并质疑其对儿童的公平性。探讨了这些结果对政策和实践的影响。
The way in which children are questioned in forensic contexts can impact on the accuracy of their responses. Past studies have shown that children were often questioned in the New Zealand courts in ways that profoundly contradict best practice. This study analyses the questions posed to 18 child witnesses by forensic interviewers, prosecutors, and defence lawyers during criminal trials held in New Zealand courts in 2008. The results suggest that, as was found in earlier studies, many of the questions posed to children during cross-examination in particular were inconsistent with best practice in terms of eliciting full and accurate information from children. Indeed, the heavy reliance on closed, leading and complex questions, along with other common practices, casts doubt on the forensic safety of cross-examination, calling into question its fairness for children. The implications of these results for policy and practice are explored.