ADHERENCE TO MENDEZ'S PRINCIPLES IN PRE-TRIAL INTERVIEWING OF THE CHILD IN LITHUANIA

Santrauka

Psychologically coercive questioning methods have been found to be ineffective and tend to produce false confessions. Leading or suggestive questions can have a negative impact on the accuracy of the interviewee's memory and the information they provide. Children are more vulnerable to coercive and suggestive questioning and may be swayed by interrogation methods, deception, and manipulation. To spread such effective interviewing practices worldwide, Principles on Effective Interviewing for Investigations and Information Gathering, known as Mendez’s Principles, have been developed and released in 2021. Mendez’s Principles consist of five principles covering legal foundation, legal practice, vulnerability assessment, training of law professionals, accountability mechanism, and implementation areas. This article aims to determine if Lithuanian legal acts, applicable during pre-trial investigations involving a child, comply with international human rights law principles and standards, which are the basis for implementing Mendez's principles. This is the first study that examines the compliance of the Lithuanian pretrial investigation legal framework with Mendez principles. This paper provides a brief overview of Mendez's principles and then focuses on the first element – the importance of embedding requirements for effective interviewing with legal safeguards in law.