Ch. 6 - Children and the Law

Question 1

Closed Prompts

Answer 1

prompts or questions that constrain the possible responses

e.g. “Who was driving the car?” or “Was it Tuesday or Wednesday?”

Question 2

Commission Errors

Answer 2

reporting false details

Question 3

Competence

Answer 3

a question of admissibility of testimony

Question 4

Recent Complaint Doctrine

Answer 4

A law that was in force in Canada until 1983, which stated that in all cases involving sexual offences, if the victim did not complain at the first available opportunity the trier of the fact was required to assume that the complaint was not credible or there was consent

Question 5

Trier of fact

Answer 5

The legal decision maker who decides the facts relevant to a dispute

Question 6

Children’s suggestibility

Answer 6

the degree to which social and psychological factors affect the way children remember, retrieve, and report details about the past

Question 7

Open Prompts

Answer 7

prompts or questions that allow a response that is minimally constrained by the question
e.g. “can you tell me more about that?”

Question 8

Omission errors

Answer 8

failing to report details

Question 9

Truth-lie discussion

Answer 9

an examination into a child’s understanding of concepts like “truth,” “lie,” “promise,” and the morality of telling the truth; this is done in some jurisdictions before a child is permitted to testify in court

Question 10

Credibility

Answer 10

the emphasis or wight the trier of the fact places on an individuals testimony

Question 11

Testimonial support

Answer 11

a procedure that deviates from traditional courtroom testimony in order to reduce the trauma of testifying and to help the witness proves a full and candid account of the allegation
e.g. using screens to block the complainant’s view of the accused