Brainstorming exercise

Essay writing pp. 174-5

Brainstorming can be a good way of getting all your possible points about a topic down on paper so that you can look at them and assess their relevance to your essay.

TOPIC: Child Witnesses in Court

  • Child witnesses and birth of special measures
  • Criminal Justice Acts 1988 and 1991
  • Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999
  • What is the impact on children of appearing as witnesses in court?
  • Do children understand the nature of the truth?
  • Do juries believe children?
  • Do screens prejudice the jury?
  • Expert evidence from psychologists to supplement child’s evidence
  • Should expert witnesses be allowed?
  • NSPCC report on children’s experience
  • NSPCC report on use of special measures
  • Baroness Hale in R v. A (Children)
  • Abolition of presumption that children will not testify in family proceedings
  • Child witnesses in criminal proceedings – R v Barker
  • Impact of trial on child and family
  • What facilities are available in court for families?
  • Use of video link evidence.
  • Facilities in courtrooms – are they good enough?
  • Taking the initial statement – training and leading questions.
  • Attitudes of barristers in court.
  • Use of intermediaries.
  • Child defendants and human rights

After the initial brainstorming, the possible points to include are in a random order and may not all be relevant. Consider the specific question asked and filter out irrelevant points:

QUESTION: Are the measures introduced to ease the process of giving evidence in criminal proceedings sufficient or should more be done to protect child witnesses?

  • Child witnesses and birth of special measures
  • Criminal Justice Acts 1988 and 1991
  • Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999
  • What is the impact on children of appearing as witnesses in court?
  • Do children understand the nature of the truth?
  • Do juries believe children?Do screens prejudice the jury?
  • Expert evidence from psychologists to supplement child’s evidence
  • Should expert witnesses be allowed?
  • NSPCC report on children’s experience
  • NSPCC report on use of special measures
  • Baroness Hale in R v. A (Children)
  • Abolition of presumption that children will not testify in family proceedings
  • Child witnesses in criminal proceedings – R v Barker
  • Impact of trial on child and family
  • What facilities are available in court for families?
  • Use of video link evidence.
  • Facilities in courtrooms – are they good enough?
  • Taking the initial statement – training and leading questions.
  • Use of recorded testimony
  • Attitudes of barristers in court.
  • Use of intermediaries.
  • Child defendants and human rights

Once the irrelevant points are removed, you should start to see how your points group together to create a preliminary structure for your essay:

QUESTION: Are the measures introduced to ease the process of giving evidence in criminal proceedings sufficient or should more be done to protect child witnesses?

  • Child witnesses and birth of special measures
  • Criminal Justice Acts 1988 and 1991
  • Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999
  • Use of video link evidence.
  • Use of recorded testimony
  • Use of intermediaries
  • What is the impact on children of appearing as witnesses in court?
    • NSPCC report on children’s experience
    • NSPCC report on use of special measures
  • Problems with children appearing in court:
    • Facilities in courtrooms – are they good enough?
    • Taking the initial statement – training and leading questions.
    • Attitudes of barristers in court.
  • Comparison with criminal and family proceedings:
    • Baroness Hale in R v. A (Children)
    • Abolition of presumption that children will not testify in family proceedings
    • Child witnesses in criminal proceedings – R v Barker
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