Sexual Assault Trials Handbook — Recording evidence and evidentiary issues in child sexual abuse cases

R Zajac, N Westera and A Kaladelfos, “The ‘good old days’ of courtroom questioning: changes in the format of child cross-examination questions over 60 years” (2018) 23(2) Child Maltreatment 186.

This article compares how Australian child sexual abuse complainants were cross-examined in the 1950s with how these complainants are cross-examined now. It found that the format of cross-examination has remained largely the same over time, with leading questions still making up the bulk of questions asked. However, there were also some alarming changes. Cross-examination questions now were more likely to be complex and less likely to be open-ended, and the number of questions put to complainants is three times more than in the 1950s.