Assessing Credibility And Intervention By The Supreme Court

Background

Assessing credibility is a delicate and complex task which courts undertake every time they are called upon to deliver a judgment. As an essential element of its deliberations, the court must assess the credibility of each witness it hears and the evidence that has been presented, and decide whether that evidence is credible. The rationale behind any conclusions made by the court when assessing credibility and the reasoning for accepting or rejecting any evidence must be sufficiently set out in its judgment, taking into account not only the witness's demeanour and the consistency of the testimony, but also all other evidence placed before the court.

The task of assessing credibility lies principally with the first-instance court, which has the advantage of hearing the witnesses and observing their conduct and demeanour. However, it is a well-established principle that in certain circumstances the appellate court may intervene in the conclusions and