The Construction Of Intermediary System For The Collection And Question Of Verbal Evidence Of Juveniles

The appearance rate of juvenile witnesses is relatively low in China’s criminal proceedings,not to mention the appearance of juvenile victims.In practice,the juveniles’ testimonies are not accepted or the juveniles testify by giving their testimonies out of court which will be read out during the cross-examination proceedings.As the physiological and psychological structures of juveniles are not yet mature,obtaining testimony from them improperly will not only lead to a decrease in the accuracy of the testimony,but also are not conducive to the recovery of juveniles’ mental health.Excluding juveniles from court process is not helpful to the protection of the defendants’ legal rights,nor for the judges to find out the truth of the case,let alone in line with the trial-centered criminal procedure reform.Therefore,it is particularly important to establish a system to deal with the verbal evidence of juveniles.This thesis establishes an intermediary system concerning juveniles’ verbal evidence by analyzing the judicial interpretation of the Chinese Criminal Procedure Law in 2021 and the criminal cases involving juveniles,and investigating the origins,regulations and practice of the intermediary systems in England,Wales,Northern Ireland and New South Wales,Australia.Through the system,intermediaries with professional knowledge first assess juveniles’ intelligence,mental state and expressive ability.Then based on the current status of the juveniles in the case,the intermediaries put forward suggestions and precautions for the communication with the juveniles to the police station,procuratorates,courts,and defense lawyers to assist the inquiries of juvenile victims and witnesses and the interrogations of juvenile criminal suspects and defendants to complete the collection and cross-examinations of the verbal evidence of juveniles.The functions of intermediaries: include using their professional knowledge to protect juveniles in criminal cases as suitable adults;acting as a bridge between juveniles and police,prosecutors,defense lawyers,and judges by assisting them to understand the language of the juveniles and at the same time assisting the juveniles to understand their questions.The intermediaries can participate as a suitable adult at all stages of criminal proceedings.During the investigation stage and review and prosecution stage,the intermediaries impart knowledge and skills for the police,prosecutors,defense lawyers,and judges to communicate with juveniles to assist the collection of juveniles’ verbal evidence.During the trial stage,if appearance of juveniles is needed,the intermediaries could hold a meeting with the judges,prosecutors and defense lawyers before the trial to introduce the juveniles’ physical and mental conditions and explain the language characteristics of juveniles and communication skills with juveniles,as well as to provide guidance on the possible problems occurred during the process of proof and cross-examination.When necessary,the intermediaries can also accompany the juveniles to appear in court as a suitable adult,and assist the communications with the juveniles during the trial.