Verifying Testimonies of Minors at the Scene: Legal, Criminalistic and Psychological Aspects

The author stresses the necessity of developing tactical-psychological methods of verifying testimonies at the scene while taking into consideration age specifics, new mental formations, social situation, crises and the leading activity of the “pre-school age” (3–7 years old), and shows that it is impossible to verify at the scene the testimonies of children under 2 years of age due to the specifics of their mental development. The author stresses how important it is for the investigator (inquirer) to have knowledge of the psychology of children aged 3–7 as it ensures the opportunity to obtain the information which is important for the investigation. Based on the knowledge of the specifics of the “productive” and the possible age (3–7 years old) of the participation in pre-trial proceedings, the author proves the effectiveness of using the “observation method” in the work of the investigator while implementing the “game” tactical approach, as well as other tactical approaches based on the knowledge of the motivation, speech, fantasies of a child, the rules followed by the child’s family, etc.; it is only in this case that the use of such tactical approaches will contribute to obtaining the information necessary for the investigation from the child.