Just think how worse it is for children. I study psychology and one of my lecturers' career is focused in issues with child witness in court. Being in an unknown, scary place, adults staring at them, etc. I realize sometimes they have methods like putting the child in a different room and have it videotaped, but still.

I have always been scared of testifying. Not only in court. Like when I was a kid and read Agatha Christie novels, Poirot would ask someone when did such and such come back, and they would answer oh at about ten minutes to 3 maybe? While me, would only be able to say somewhere between 2 and 4 maybe? Having to testify in such a way when another person's life might depend on it scares me to death!

This is something I should be horrified about in my line of work, but strangely, I’m not. I’m more horrified about the circumstances that would result in me testifying than testifying itself.

you took the emotions in my heart and said it perfectly! thanks for this wonderful essay! thank goodness i have never had to do that either.

As a lawyer, I can honestly say that even arguing in Court feels like this. If you don't think everything through or have your wits about you, your words may be interpreted against you (your client) by judges or opposing counsel. The lawyers are needling, testing each other as well. It's...honestly somewhat scary on some days. I understand your fear and I hope you never have to take the stand. But if you do, then worry not - its scary, but as long as you're prepared (something that drama characters never are), you'll be alright.

Hey there missvictrxi, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone, “Whaaa??” watching courtroom scenes in kdramas. Or a police station inquiry, or an interrogation. Like when the person stopped a break- in but then that person is booked for injuring the criminal! Huh? Anyhoot, keep up your stellar record as a model citizen which, we can only hope, will prevent any personal experience in the court system -Korean or otherwise!

Thank you for sharing this with us, Miss Victrix. These things you have noticed in these dramas are largely the products of literary license and do not represent reality. They are also the reason why I do not watch courtroom dramas- they simply make me cringe.

Anyone can, through shear random chance, be a witness to something. Shortly before I went to law school I was a witness to a motorcycle accident. I certainly did not start my day with the intention of being a witness to anything, but did end up in a courtroom on the witness stand.

Good news- it is not that scary in real life. You worry that you not be able to think quickly enough- but that assumes that you have assumed responsibility for someone else’s life. You have not done so. The dramas represent testimony s a battle of wits between lawyer and witness. This is totally false: It is not the job of a witness to think at all. The responsibility of the witness is to simply remember what happened to the best of his or her ability and to give as truthful an account of that memory as possible. If there is a detail that you cannot remember it is perfectly OK to say “I don’t remember”. As long as you do not lie and recount what you saw as accurately as you can then you have done all that the law expects of you- you will not get into trouble.

You do not have to be clever with your words nor think on your feet- that is the lawyer’s job.

You worry about the lawyer trying to trick you. As long as you testify truthfully that really cannot happen. And do not forget that the trial is always being supervised by another man or woman called a judge- who possesses the power to shut down any real attempts at trickery- and they do not hesitate to do that.

Remember that it is not your testimony that changes another person’s life. It is their actions, or the actions of someone who did something to them, that has changed their life. I was a witness to that motorcycle accident- I had no part in causing that accident.

The reality of being a witness is that it is really just a huge hassle. You have to talk to the police who are preparing the report. You talk to the lawyer or lawyers. You have to go to the courthouse because of this piece of paper called a Subpoena (literal translation from the Latin “Under {the threat of} Punishment”). There you have to sit and wait until you are called to the stand. Mercifully, once your testimony is done the judge will excuse you- that means you finally get to go home. You are more likely to suffer from frustration and boredom during this ordeal rather than terror.

So relax- and enjoy the dramas secure in the knowledge that they do not represent reality - at least as far as the courtroom.

I was interrogated once by police and had my testimony out on paper, and that was pretty embarassing too, because the way policeman wrote it up made me look like someone with only half working brain, but it was my first expirence with police so I didn't know what to do in such a case, I just insisted that he have to correct all the spelling mistakes before I sign it, but still shiver with embarassment that this paper is somewhere in the archive with my name on it.

Thanks @missvictrix for your interesting essay. I don’t think I have any fear or phobia about testifying in court other than the fact that I would probably be a terrible witness. I consider my memory to be average to lousy. So I would definitely have to be “led” which would subject Counsel to:
“OBJECTION! Counsel is leading the witness!” Which would get the reply: “Yes, because that is the only way we are going to get any information out of him”.