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:
“That he is old, the more the pity, his white hairs do witness it.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“[Let] the Union of the States be cherished and perpetuated. Let the open enemy to it be regarded as a Pandora with her box opened; and the disguised one, as the Serpent creeping with his deadly wiles into paradise.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)