Child Forensic Interviewing: Recommendations by the European Association of Psychology and Law

Child interviews should be conducted according to best practice standards, acknowledging developmental, social, and cultural aspects, and using evidence-based interviewing protocols that rely on open-ended questions (e.g., “Tell me what happened”), including when interviews take place with the help of interpreters. Interviewers need to engage in hypothesis-testing (exploring alternative explanations to the allegation at hand) to reduce the risk of bias and they should be supported by continuous training with individualized feedback and constructive quality assessment. Child interviews should be electronically recorded to assess interview quality and to evaluate interview practices. Criminal justice systems should move towards using interview records as evidence in court to avoid subjecting children to stressful and counterproductive cross-examinations.