Aging witnesses

Abstract

With the population aging, judges will increasingly be faced with elder witnesses in their courtrooms. Despite the importance of elder witness testimony to the investigation and prosecution of crimes, an age-based lens has yet to be cast on this issue in legal scholarship to date. However, in the field of psychology there are a number of studies that detail how old age impacts a witness’s ability to perceive, remember and communicate an event in court. This paper bridges this gap between legal and psychological scholarship by reviewing the psychological studies on elder witnesses and describing, in practical terms, the implications of these studies on the legal treatment of elder witness evidence. Going forward, it is only with increased awareness of these differences between older and younger witnesses that the justice system can begin to understand how it needs to change in order to respond to the unique needs of this growing segment of the population.