swearing contest

English

Noun

swearing contest (plural swearing contests)

  1. (law, informal) A trial whose outcome comes down to which of two parties swearing to the truth of opposing accounts is to be believed.
    • 1985, Dublin University Law Journal, page 47:
      Dershowitz pithily illustrates the dilemma of the courts in deciding the swearing contest in his “rules” of the criminal justice system: […]
    • 1999, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Criminal Justice Oversight, The Clinton Justice Department's Refusal to Enforce the Law on Voluntary Confessions: Hearing, page 56:
      Such one-on-one “swearing contests” are routinely decided in favor of law enforcement officers, but in this case the district court sided with the accused bank robber.
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