Rules Board for Courts of Law Act, 1985 (Act No. 107 of 1985)RulesThe Children's Courts Rules of South AfricaChapter 2 : General5. Questioning techniques for children |
| (1) | All questions to children during proceedings must— |
| (a) | be in plain and age-appropriate language, taking into consideration the child’s age, maturity and stage of development; |
| (b) | not be complex and be easy to understand; |
| (c) | not consist of more than one question at a time; |
| (d) | not be posed in the negative; |
| (e) | not contain legal terminology; and |
| (f) | not be intimidating or aggressive. |
| (2) | The court must disallow questions which are misleading, irrelevant, ambiguous, annoying, harassing, inappropriate, intimidating, offensive, aggressive and repetitive or is in a form that is not likely to be understood by the child, including any other question which in the view of the court is unsuitable or inappropriate. |
| (3) | The court must, where the child is not testifying through an intermediary, order that— |
| (a) | questions must be put through the court, and |
| (b) | the court may rephrase the questions to convey the general purport of the question to the child, where necessary. |
| (4) | Where there is no separate audio-visual facility in order that the child may not see any person who is involved in the proceedings, the court may— |
| (a) | allow the child to participate from behind a screen; or |
| (b) | in any other manner as directed by the court. |
| (5) | Where a child is unable to participate and respond, the court may allow the child to do so in any suitable manner, including— |
| (a) | gestures; |
| (b) | drawing or painting; |
| (c) | writing; |
| (d) | electronic devices in any format; |
| (e) | picture or symbol cards; |
| (f) | toys; |
| (g) | demonstrations; and |
| (h) | any other manner the court considers suitable. |
| (6) | A suitably qualified expert may be allowed by the court to interpret and explain the meaning of responses in sub-rules (4) and (5). |
| (7) | The child must be allowed time to consider a question before responding. |
| (8) | The child should be questioned for the shortest time possible and where necessary the court should adjourn to allow the child to rest. |
| (9) | The court may rephrase any question to the child— |
| (a) | where the child experiences difficulty in testifying due to fear, timidity, embarrassment, confusion or reluctance to testify, or |
| (b) | where the question is not understood or not likely to be understood by the child. |
| (10) | The provisions of this rule apply, with the necessary changes, to children in general, children with intellectual or psychiatric difficulties, hearing or other physical disabilities which complicate communication, to traumatised children and very young children. |