Report No. 198
USA:
In US, the Sixth Amendment guarantees that 'in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial...; and to be confronted with the witnesses against him...." In addition, the First Amendment ensures the right to freedom of speech, and of the press which includes the right to information. Though in certain earlier judgments of the Supreme Court the right to open confrontation was treated as absolute, in latter judgments such as Maryland v. Craig (1990) 497 US 836, the Court agreed that the right was not absolute and accepted evidence through closed circuit television to be given by a juvenile victim.