Witness testimony in sexual cases : evidential, investigative and scientific perspectives / edited by Pamela Radcliffe, Gisli H. Gudjonsson, Anthony Heaton-Armstrong, David Wolchover.
Contributor(s): Radcliffe, Pamela [editor.]
| Gudjonsson, Gisli H [editor.] | Heaton-Armstrong, Anthony [editor.] | Wolchover, David [editor.].Series: Witness testimony: Publisher: Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2016Description: xlii, 413 pages.Content type: text Media type: unmediated Carrier type: volumeISBN: 9780199672936.Subject(s): Sex crimes -- Law and legislation -- Great Britain | Witnesses -- Great Britain | Child witnesses -- Great BritainDDC classification: 345.2530262041 | Item type | Current library | Class number | Status | Date due | Barcode | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book | House of Lords Library - Palace Dewey | 345.2530262041 WIT (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | Available | 015121 |
Introduction -- Part I: Evidential perspectives -- 1. Witness testimony: context, vulnerabilities and issues -- 2. Prosecuting sexual offences in England and Wales -- 3. Disclosure issues in the investigation and trial of allegations of sexual assault -- 4. Abuse of process and delayed prosecutions -- 5. Two aspects of the statutory restriction on introducing the complainant's sexual history -- 6. Bad character provisions and their application to sexual offences --
7. Expert evidence in trials of sexual offences -- 8. Defending serious sexual assault: ethical and effective advocacy -- 9. Sexual allegations against medical professionals -- 10. Sexual allegations and evidence gathering in the family court -- 11. International case studies -- 12. Institutional abuse inquiries --
Part II: Investigative and scientific perspectives -- 13. Analysing and improving the testimony of vulnerable witnesses interviewed under the Achieving Best Evidence protocol -- 14. Investigative practice -- 15. Providing for the needs of witnesses -- 16. Understanding what children say: avoiding the pitfalls of child testimony -- 17. Forensic science, forensic medicine and sexual crime -- 18. The interpretation of clinical signs of sexual abuse in children -- 19. Child and adolescent sexual assault examinations: good practice and key issues -- 20. Common psychiatric, psychological and learning disorders and treatment -- 21. Neurological memory disorders -- 22. Memory and reliability: developments and controversial issues -- 23. How misconceptions about memory may undermine witness testimony -- 24. Pathological lying -- 25. Conclusion.
"Sexual cases are inherently complex and sometimes controversial presenting the practitioner with a multitude of procedural and legal challenges. The increasing number of sexual cases, often historic, places significant demands upon the criminal justice system. Sexual crime is recognised as a specialist area which demands unique skills from the practitioner and handling witness testimony in these cases calls for skills and knowledge that encompass both law and science.
Witness Testimony in Sexual Cases focuses on legal and scientific considerations that arise when obtaining and evaluating sexual complaint testimony. It provides comprehensive and balanced coverage of this difficult and challenging topic across the complete spectrum of involvement in the legal process.
This book equips legal professionals with an understanding of current legal and scientific issues when investigating, evaluating and testing witness testimony in sexual cases. Using a didactic approach the book combines an exposition on the law and procedure with a range of specialist perspectives on cognitive processes pertaining to vulnerable and non-vulnerable witnesses. The book identifies psychiatric and psychological factors that may enhance or impair the quality of witness testimony for instance where a witness suffers from mental health problems or where long-term memory recall is involved.
The book provides practitioners with an understanding of factors which tend to undermine the reliability of witness testimony, but also focuses on those factors which may enhance witness quality. Witness Testimony in Sexual Cases draws together learning not readily available and encourages an integral and rigorous approach to the analysis of witness testimony in the special context of sexual cases." Oxford University Press website.