PSYCHOLOGICAL ESTIMATION OF THE CHILD’S TESTIMONY IN CRIMINAL PROCEEDING. FACTORS RELATING TO A NEGATIVE INFLUENCE ON THE ACCURACY AND COMPLETENESS OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES REPRODUCTION

The article describes the problem of assessing the testimony of a child about legally significant events as an eyewitness (participant) of which he appeared at each stage of the formation of his testimony (directly or indirectly reflecting certain facts, preserving and processing directly perceived or acquired by logical means, reproducing stored information). The main age patterns of the child’s mental activity (level of mental development in general and the level of development of intelligence, speech, and different types of memory in particular; individual propensity; victimhood) are analyzed, limiting its capabilities at the stages of perception of events and phenomena, as well as reproduction of perceived circumstances. Along with the abovementioned, external factors that can affect the content of the child’s testimony, including incorrectly formulated questions from the interrogator are noted. The boundaries of the competence of psychological examination in terms of assessing the testimony of the child are indicated. On the basis of expert experience in the use of special psychological knowledge in criminal cases involving a child, the tasks that fall within the competence of the forensic psychological examination are reviewed. The important role of competent selection of children’s testimony for the expert analysis of outgoing data is shown. In particular, the need to record his authentic statements is indicated.Key words: child, criminal proceedings, assessment of evidence, negative