Testing the Law and Testing a Child's Evidence: Nineteenth-Century Corroboration Reforms and Child Witness Testimony

This article examines nineteenth-century evidence and criminal law reforms that sought to balance the need for more young children to give evidence in court with the need to test their truthfulness. This period closely mirrors the current atmosphere in the aftermath of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, fears of false allegations and the #metoo movement. Drawing on case law, legislation, parliamentary debates, and newspaper reports, this article demonstrates how new unsworn testimony provisions allowed more children to be heard while, contrary to all intentions, associated corroboration reforms made prosecuting child sex offences harder than ever.