SLOVÁ A MOC. PRÍPADOVÁ ŠTÚDIA ZO SÚDNEHO POJEDNÁVANIA

This article is a part of a wider research field, which deals with relationship of language and power, as it is analysed in intersection of sociolinguistics and legal anthropology. Our data confirm that attorneys and judges hold linguistic control over witnesses and defendants through the interrogation process. In this, questions are used as weapons for the purpose of testing or challenging claims, and as mechanisms for making accusations. In the search of inconsistencies judges are usually unaware of standard failures of human memory. We argue that the search for internal coherence of the account, its external consistency with 'objective evidence', and its 'inherent implausibility' is linked with prejudices or lack of understanding, especially when the person whose credibility is being assessed comes from a cultural and political background very different from the assessor.