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Unus testis, nullus testis
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<p><i>Unus testis, nullus testis</i> (lit. 'one witness, no witness') is a <a href="/facts/List_of_Latin_legal_terms/dhXgjPmS">Latin legal phrase</a> describing a rule of the <a href="/facts/Law_of_evidence/yS36XEI6">law of evidence</a>. According to this rule, the <a href="/facts/Corroborating_evidence/RHDsPxLv">uncorroborated</a> testimony of one <a href="/facts/Witness/gGcTPH5n">witness</a> should be discounted because it is deemed to be too unreliable to establish a fact. The English equivalent of the phrase is "one man, no man". </p><p>The historical foundations of the <i>unus testis</i>-rule are various passages in the <a href="/facts/Old_Testament/YFNzQVcK">Old</a> and <a href="/facts/New_Testament/k066sDIn">New Testament</a> and a <a href="/facts/Constitution_(Roman_law)/g5DGwrm5">constitution</a> of emperor <a href="/facts/Constantine_the_Great/jW1q8TPp">Constantine I</a> of AD 334. While the applicability of this rule has generally been in decline, it is still present in contemporary Dutch criminal procedure and the <a href="/facts/Canon_law_of_the_Catholic_Church/eybl64mc">canon law of the Catholic Church</a> and similar to the ongoing requirement of <a href="/facts/Corroboration_in_Scots_law/xzslzvf2">corroboration in Scots law</a>. </p><p>The rule has been criticized for impeding convictions for certain types of crimes (especially <a href="/facts/Sexual_assault/F3zvb27R">sexual assault</a>) which often only have the perpetrator and the victim present. </p>