A witness box or witness stand is part of a courtroom. It is the section of the room set aside for witnesses to stand or sit in while giving their testimony or presenting evidence. In U.S. English, it is known as the witness stand or merely the stand.
Historically, witness boxes have been elevated well above floor level (although below the height of the Bench, where the judge sits). Before the Separation of church and state, trials were sometimes held in churches. In such cases, the witness stood at the pulpit behind the bar.
In modern courtrooms, witness boxes tend to be only slightly elevated.
Famous quotes containing the words witness and/or box:
““Forsake me not thus, Adam! witness Heaven
What love sincere and reverence in my heart
I bear thee, and unweeting have offended,
Unhappily deceived! Thy suppliant
I beg, and clasp thy knees; beereave me not,
Whereon I live, thy gentle looks, thy aid,
Thy counsel in this uttermost distress,
My only strength and stay: forlorn of thee,
Whither shall I betake me, where subsist?”
—John Milton (1608–1674)
“A box of teak, a box of sandalwood,
A brass-ringed spyglass in a case,
A coin, leaf-thin with many polishings,
Last kingdom of a gold forgotten face,
These lie about the room....”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)