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Spot the liar It is not possible to say as a generality whether a witness is telling the truth in court rather than remotely. That was the conclusion of Lieven J in the care fact-finding case of A Local Authority v Mother and others [2020] EWHC 1086 (Fam). Demeanour would often not be a good guide to truthfulness. Some people were better at lying than others and that would be no different whether they did so remotely or in court. Demeanour in court would often be more obvious to the judge but that did not mean it would be more illuminating. Might a witness be more likely to tell the truth if they were in the witness box and felt the pressure of the courtroom? This could work the other way round. They might feel less defensive and be more inclined to tell the truth in a remote hearing than when feeling somewhat intimidated in court. In the absence of empirical evidence, she could reach no conclusion on what forum was most likely to elicit the most truthful and/or revealing evidence.
