Amendments to the Evidence of Child Witness Act 2007 aim to better support children who may feel pressured or scared when attending court, according to Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, the Minister of Women, Family, and Community Development. These changes are designed to make the legal process less intimidating for children who need to give evidence.
Nancy Shukri emphasized the importance of updating the law to facilitate children's participation in court proceedings. She stated that understanding the measures taken to support them and the investigation process can help children feel more at ease.
"This is a necessary improvement to our laws to ensure that children involved in court processes understand what is being done to assist them and the investigation," Shukri said. Her comments were made in response to the amendments tabled in Dewan Rakyat this week.
Consultant paediatrician and child disability activist Datuk Dr. Amar-Singh HSS highlighted the importance of revising the Evidence of Child Witness Act to protect child witnesses in legal settings. He noted that the updates align with international standards and evidence-based practices.
"These amendments will ensure that the judiciary can obtain the most reliable and comprehensive evidence from children," Dr. Amar-Singh said. He expressed confidence in children's ability to provide accurate accounts, even from a young age. "In my experience, children as young as four or five can clearly describe instances of abuse and other serious matters. By the age of eight, most children can comprehend and articulate serious issues like death and abuse."
Dr. Amar-Singh added that only children with significant intellectual disabilities or psychiatric disorders might need their competency evaluated. He emphasized that children are often more truthful and less likely to fabricate stories compared to adults. By ages four to five, children can distinguish between fact and fiction and are unlikely to fantasize about sexual activities.
However, he cautioned that children are vulnerable to the negative effects of improper questioning by unskilled adults. The competence and credibility of a child's testimony depend on the skills of the interviewing team and the conditions under which the testimony is elicited.
Dr. Amar-Singh supported the use of pretrial case management to guide how children give evidence, providing necessary support to both children and court officers. He thanked Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman for leading the initiative to amend the act.
Sharmila Sekaran, chair of the advocacy group Voice of the Children (VoC), stated that passing the Bill would improve the experience of child witnesses in court, enabling them to give their best evidence for justice.
"Key amendments in the Bill include recognizing the competency of child witnesses, removing the requirement for mandatory corroboration, and using case management to direct how children will be examined," Sekaran explained. "These changes mean that children's evidence will be treated equally to adults', and judges will decide based on all evidence presented."
Sekaran also called for judicial officers and judges to be more proactive in supporting child witnesses within the criminal justice system. The Bill, tabled by Azalina, aims to enhance provisions for child witness testimony, allowing children over twelve with sufficient understanding to testify under oath and understand the importance of truthfulness in court proceedings. The court will have the authority to assess the competency of child witnesses before and during their testimony.
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