Achieving Best Evidence (ABE)
Definition
UK guidance (most recent revision 2022) on interviewing vulnerable witnesses including children. Embedded within the YJCEA 1999 special measures framework; ABE interviews can serve as video evidence-in-chief at trial under s 27 YJCEA 1999.
- Jurisdiction
- England and Wales
- Most recent revision
- 2022
- Legal basis
- YJCEA 1999, special measures framework
- Court use
- Video evidence-in-chief under section 27
- Covers
- Children and vulnerable witness interviews
Common questions
What makes an ABE interview different from a routine police interview?+
It follows a structured phased protocol covering rapport building, free narrative, questioning, and closure, designed to reduce leading questions and contamination, and it is video recorded specifically so the recording can be played as the witness's evidence-in-chief at trial.
Can an ABE interview replace a witness appearing in court?+
The recording replaces only the evidence-in-chief stage; the witness can still be required to attend for cross-examination, though special measures such as a screen or live link may apply to that too.
Related terms
- Acquiescence Bias
- The tendency to agree with questions regardless of their content, elevated in young children and persons with intellectual disabilities. A major source...
- Cognitive Interview (CI)
- An evidence-based interview technique developed by Fisher and Geiselman that uses memory-enhancement strategies including mental reinstatement of context, free recall, temporal variation,...
- Intermediary
- A communication specialist (YJCEA 1999 s 29) who attends an ABE interview and trial to ensure that questions are put to vulnerable...
- Interrogative Suggestibility
- The measurable tendency of an individual to accept misleading suggestions and change responses under pressure, assessed by the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales (GSS-1,...
- NICHD Protocol
- A structured child investigative interview protocol developed by Michael Lamb and colleagues, with an extended rapport and narrative-practice phase followed by a...
- POCSO § 35
- The Indian Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012 provision requiring Special Courts to record a child's evidence within 30 days...
- Special Measures (YJCEA 1999)
- Provisions under the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 allowing vulnerable witnesses (including all children in sexual or violent cases) to...