This chapter begins with an overview of the history of the law relevant to the issues of a child's competence to stand trial. It discusses the legal and medical frameworks for assessing a child's competence to stand trial. The chapter analyzes the legal and medical frameworks and methodologies for assessing a child's competence to waive Miranda rights. It turns to the methods by which lawyers and medical personnel evaluate a child's competence in these areas. These assessments play a central role in determining the admissibility into evidence of children's statements to law enforcement. The chapter includes a section on the interactions and relationships between the judges, lawyers, and medical experts who participate in the assessment process and in the process of adjudicating competence to stand trial and children's capacity to make a knowing, intelligent waiver of Miranda warnings. The issues are of central importance to the juvenile court's adjudicative process.