Cross-examining young alleged complainers in Scottish criminal courts

Presents the results of research into lawyers’ questioning techniques of children in cases of alleged sexual offences. A sample of 36 Scottish court transcripts was drawn, involving 56 children between the ages of five and 17. The analysis indicates that a large proportion of the questions posed were suggestive questions that implied expected responses or introduced undisclosed information, as well as being overly-complex and repetitious.