ABSTRACT
Whenever children are involved in the fact-finding process associated with legal proceedings, the question of their fitness as witnesses comes to the fore. This question involves both reliability, that is, the ability to report consistently and accurately, and competency, that is, the ability to understand and answer questions posed. The issues of competency and reliability have traditionally been defined in terms of characteristics of the witness (e.g., age, IQ), but it is becoming increasing apparent that, with children in particular, the way questions are asked has a stronger influence on the accuracy of their answers than does any characteristic of the child herself. Stated more directly intelligent questions are a necessary requirement for eliciting intelligent answers.
