Witness preparation: a supposed mantra, full of epistemic risks
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Abstract
There are many and very serious problems affecting testimonial evidence. If anything comes from the studies of the psychology of testimony, is that. Because of the secret nature in which it is carried out, the limited confrontation that the adversary can bring forward and because it implies a direct influence -at least potential- in the content of the testimony, the preparation of the witness is one of those problems. Perhaps the most serious. Although a sector of Anglo-Saxon and Latin American doctrine has affirmed as a maxim that lawyers must prepare witnesses, there are few rigorous efforts to concrete the concept, its limits and the risks it involves for the search of the truth and the lawyers trying the case. This work, through a “epistemic analysis” and a proposal to regulate the matter in a precise and detailed manner, constitutes a first effort to overcome this gap.
Keywords
Witness coaching, Witness Preparation, Epistemic risks, Witness contamination, The psychology of testimony, International Criminal CourtReferences
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DOI
https://doi.org/10.33115/udg_bib/qf.i5.22904Published
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