Evidence Course Work

Table of Contents

Introduction2

Discussion3

Fundamental Legal Position of Child Witnesses:3

R V Wallwork:5

Changes and Practices:7

Current Trends:11

Conclusion14

Bibliography16

Books16

Journals16

Cases16

Statutes17

Evidence Course Work

Introduction

Children and minors are always deemed to be persons who have limited abilities and capacities to carry out legal activities; hence they are protected by the law in many situations and cases. One of the areas in which children are protected and/or limited by the law is in the process of giving evidence.

The Human Rights Act (1998), which is a fundamental portion of UK law today, stipulates that every individual has the right to a fair trial in all situations and circumstances Article 6 provides the guarantee that all people must have a right to a fair trial. The Article also stipulates that the courts must interpret the legislation of cases in a manner that will be consistent with the Human Rights Act. This requires that evidence is given in all cases before any judgement is passed in any case in a UK court.

There are four main types of evidence that is used to examine and prove the 'actus reus' and the 'mens rea' in cases in the English legal system. First of all, there is the direct evidence which is given by the victim or witness of a criminal activity under trial. This is given by the witness or victim of a crime directly to the court and in most cases, the counsels of the parties can cross examine the witness or victim to ascertain the accuracy and/or reliability of the evidence. Secondly, there is documentary evidence which involve written or recorded items that relate to the incident that can be presented to the court to back a claim in the case. There is also real evidence which include other tangible things which can be turned in to support or refute a claim in the case. Finally, there is the circumstantial evidence which involves information that comes to describe related events connected to the issue at hand.

There are things that determine the worth of a piece of evidence: relevance, admissibility and weight. Evidence must have a direct bearing to the case at hand. If evidence does not really connect with a case at hand, it might not be appropriate for the court to accept it. Also, there are rules and regulations about the admissibility of evidence. This is based on statute and precedence. Thus for instance, there is the popular question of whether a parrot can be admissible as a witness in a divorce case if it continues to repeat things that indict a given party in the case. As to whether it will be appropriate will depend on the rules and regulations relating to the admissibility of evidence that the court adheres to. Also, the weight or the persuasiveness of a given piece of evidence is important. This is because it shows how much emphasis that the court needs to put on the evidence that is presented before it.

In this paper, we examine the question of the position of children in giving evidence ...