How Dutch legal professionals assess statement credibility: Evidence from a survey and an analysis of 518 court rulings on sexual abuse

In sexual abuse cases, the witness statement plays a fundamental role. This brings about the complex task for judges to evaluate the statement on its credibility. In Study 1, we polled 79 Dutch legal professionals about the criteria they rely on to evaluate the credibility of a statement. Most criteria mentioned pertained to the content of the statement, specifically consistency (66%), accuracy (66%), and detailedness (53%). Twenty-eight percent mentioned all three criteria. The way the statement is presented was also mentioned (non-verbal behavior: 14%, emotion; 13%; authentic impression: 11%). In Study2, we analyzed 518 Dutch court rulings on sexual assault on the criteria used in credibility assessment. The most often used criteria were again consistency (80.1%), detailedness (65%), and accuracy (31%), with 13% relying on all three criteria. Authentic impression (21%), emotionality during the statement (13%), and signs of trauma (9.5%) were also regularly used. In conclusion, legal professionals rely heavily on content criteria (Consistency, Accuracy, and Detailedness) – but not in a systematic way. Highly contested criteria (e.g., authentic impression) are also regularly used. Judicial decision-making may benefit from relying exclusively on validated indicators and doing so in a more systematic manner.