swearing contest

plural swearing contests

1. informallawA trial whose outcome comes down to which of two parties swearing to the truth of opposing accounts is to be believed.

   Dershowitz pithily illustrates the dilemma of the courts in deciding the swearing contest in his “rules” of the criminal justice system: […]

   1985, Dublin University Law Journal, page 47

   1 more example

   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.

   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