Competency of witnesses is a critical matter in the field of jurisprudence given the fact that in most cases, the judgement is made based on accounts of witnesses. In general, the law recognizes every individual as a competent witness unless they fail to meet rules for determining competency (Cornell Law School, 2014). This fact has made the courts place emphasis on the rules to determine whether the witness being relied upon is competent to give an account of the story or not. However, in some cases, the rules to determine competency of witnesses are always relaxed given the difficulty involved in prosecuting such cases without considering the account of the noncompetent witness. Corners of witness competency only act as mechanisms to disqualify witness that are not fit to testify, meeting the requirements does not necessarily mean the witness testimony is admissible as evidence. Generally, there are four corners of witness competency that are required to before a witness account is admissible in court.
The first requirement in determining the competency of a witness is knowledgeability of the witness. Possessing intelligence to be able to give facts that they recollect and narrate a comprehensible story about events pertaining to the case in hand is a key feature that all witnesses must met. Knowledge as a requirement can be perceived from two angles, knowledge about matters relating to the crime being prosecuted or a general expected intelligent ability to understand basic issues. Second corner of witness competency relates to understanding of the affirmation or oath to testify truthfully. Failure to understand the oath disqualifies a person from being a competent witness in a legal proceeding. A third requirement refers to the ability to differentiate between right and wrong, truth and lies. This centers on the psychological and mental development of an individual.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The final corner of witness competency refers to the willingness and ability of the witness to appreciate and uphold the duty to testify truthfully after taking oath. The likelihood of a witness to lie in court because of their status or relationships could lead them to be declared as incompetent. These four corners of witness competency are usually applied on a case by case basis with flexibility allowed to give the jury the opportunity to decide on the appropriateness of the testimony in making the final judgement. This concept of making flexible adjustments to the requirements of witness competency makes children to be competent witnesses in some cases. When it has been determined that the child possesses enough intelligence to give a comprehensive account of recollected events, the child can be allowed to testify as a competent witness. This is especially common in cases where the prosecution of a crime relies heavily on the testimony of a child, a case of statutory rape for example.
Reference
Legal Information Institute. (2014). Rule 601. Competency to Testify in General . Legal Information Institute. https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/fre/rule_601.
