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Title
Child witnesses in twentieth century Australian courtrooms / Robyn Blewer.
ISBN
9783030697914 (electronic bk.)
3030697916 (electronic bk.)
9783030697907
3030697908
Published
Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, [2021]
Language
English
Description
1 online resource
Item Number
10.1007/978-3-030-69791-4 doi
Call Number
KU4698.C5
Dewey Decimal Classification
347/.94066083
Summary
This book considers the law, policy and procedure for child witnesses in Australian criminal courts across the twentieth century. It uses the stories and experiences of over 200 children, in many cases using their own words from press reports, to highlight how the relevant law was or was not - applied throughout this period. The law was sympathetic to the plight of child witnesses and exhibited a significant degree of pragmatism to receive the evidence of children but was equally fearful of innocent men being wrongly convicted. The book highlights the impact safeguards like corroboration and closed court rules had on the outcome of many cases and the extent to which fear of children, of lies (or the truth) and of reform influenced the criminal justice process. Over a century of children giving evidence in court it is `clear that the more things changed, the more they stayed the same. Robyn Blewer is Lecturer at the Griffith University Law School in Queensland, Australia, and the Director of the Griffith University Innocence Project. She holds a Master of Criminology and Criminal Justice and completed her doctoral thesis as a member of the Australian Research Councils Laureate research project, The Prosecution Project.
Note
Includes index.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
Source of Description
Description based on print version record.
Series
Palgrave histories of policing, punishment and justice.
1 Introduction
2 The child witness and the English legal system
Part 2: Getting into Court
3 Those troublesome men in blue: Police and child witnesses
4 If the law doesnt get you, the Lord will: Competency and Capacity
Part 3: Giving Evidence
5 Making kiddies at home: The courtroom environment
6 What the Nipper Said Was True
Examination
7 Trying to bend the law to fit: Corroboration
8 The role of the judicial officer
Part 4: Reflections and Conclusions
9 The influence of women and womens philanthropic/community organisations
10 Understanding and recognising children
11 Changes in law were full of danger: Conclusion.
