MR COETSER
The strong point is the importance of realising various fundamental factors.  Now there is an article which I would like to have referred the Panel to, written by a former Chief Justice of this country, emanating from his frustration at judicial officers not properly analysing factual material to determine credibility and what he warned there was, as I've just said, the mere fact of a contradiction does not necessarily imply a lie.  There are many reasons why a contradiction can emerge, one of them being reconstructive reasoning.  That reconstructive reasoning may result from a faulty memory but a desire to disclose facts.  It may result from opinion, it may result from hearsay.  Laymen, as we know, are inclined to indulge in reconstructive reasoning.  Now a cross-examinational process via the delivery of oral evidence, in a forum such as this, is designed inter alia to control the reconstructive reasoning process and to determine from the witness what he can actually clearly remember now of the events that happened then, because it is only those things that he can still clearly remember that he can state as fact.  What he can no longer remember clearly, the fact is he can no longer remember clearly.  Now the point is ...(intervention)