Zur Aufhebung von Scheinerinnerungen: Neue Befunde von Oeberst et al. (2021) und ihre aktuelle Übertragbarkeit in die forensische Praxis

A current finding by Oeberst et al. (2021) suggests a reversal of false memories of autobiographical events by means of source and false memory sensitization. The use of both techniques led to a significant reduction in the recollection quality of false memories in the sample examined. At the same time, the quality of memories of true experiences was barely diminished. Such results are seldom and significant, transferring them into forensic practice would be beneficial. However, if the meaningfulness and potential transferability of the results is examined more closely against the backdrop of forensic practice’s demands, it becomes apparent that using techniques in such a manner has not yet been sufficiently investigated and empirically verified. This applies to the psychological assessment of credibility as for the police questioning of witnesses. More details are discussed in the present article, whereby the study by Oeberst et al, its results, informative value and validity is successively and primarily referred to in relation to the psychological assessment of credibility.

B-event statements as vehicles for two interactional practices in police interactions with suspects/witnesses

B-events are matters which are better known to listeners than to speakers. This paper studies the detectives’ use of B-event statements in two different environments in their interactions with suspects/witnesses. The first type of environment are relatively co-operative sequences during which the aim is the reconstruction of events and constructing the record; here, B-event statements are realised as confirmation seeking questions. The second type of environment, a hostile interactional environment, is composed of argumentative sequences in which detectives aim to determine who are the perpetrators of crimes; in these sequences, the detectives’ B-event statements are realised as accusations. While performing the two activities, the detectives signal different epistemic levels and stances at the turn level. Thus, the former B-event statements are mostly epistemically downgraded, while the latter are mostly upgraded, in order to facilitate undertaking these different activities during police questioning.

Ireland: Curtailment of the right to silence through statutory adverse inferences

In Ireland, the right to silence has been significantly impacted by the legislative introduction of adverse inference provisions. In specified circumstances, with varying threshold requirements, a suspect’s failure to answer questions or provide information during Garda (police) questioning can form the basis of an inference against them at trial. Ireland has not opted in to either Directive 2016/343/EU on the strengthening of certain aspects of the presumption of innocence or Directive 2013/48/EU on the right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings. This article examines the constitutional and common law context of the protection of the right to silence in Ireland; the operation, and expansion, of the statutory inference regime; the lack of legislative provision for a right to legal assistance during Garda interview; and relevant European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence. While there are some benefits to overt legislation and safeguards attached to the drawing of inferences from pre-trial silence, the question must be asked whether a detained suspect in Ireland truly has a protected right to silence in real terms, given the proliferation of inference provisions.

5. Police questioning of suspects

This chapter examines the power of the police to question suspects, both in theory and in practice. It discusses the expanding powers of the police to interrogate, reflecting the drift from due process to crime control; the multiple aims of police interviews; the dwindling away of the right to silence, for example as a result of the introduction of adverse inferences and the ‘sidelining’ of legal advice; the (inadequate) regulation of interrogation, for example, through trial remedies founded on interviews being ‘unfair’ or ‘oppressive’ ; traditional police interview tactics; the development of investigative interviewing, based on the PEACE model; why the innocent confess and the role of coercion and suggestibility in this; and the need for a corroboration rule.

The Advice Parents Give Their Children During Police Questioning

Justice systems often assume that the participation of a trusted adult compensates for the developmental differences young people exhibit when understanding and applying their legal rights. We recruited a community sample of parents with children between the ages of 10-18 years to examine the advice they provided in hypothetical police questioning situations. All participants read scenarios where they imagined their child was being questioned by police, then selected the advice they would give their child. Participants were quasi randomly allocated to the Extra Information (EI) condition (n = 49) or the Business as Usual (BAU) condition (n = 56 ). Those allocated to the EI group watched a video which told them their child’s legal rights, explained these rights to them and explained their role as their child’s nominated person. Those allocated to the BAU group watched a video in which they were informed of their child’s legal rights. Parents then read more scenarios and asked what advice they would give their child. Pre-video advice was problematic with the optimum legal advice being provided 2.85% of the time, and participants advising their child to remain silent 13.57% of the time. Advice improved post-video in both groups, with the EI group improving slightly more than the BAU group. Overall, post-video advice to ‘remain silent’ increased significantly, and post-video advice to ‘tell the police everything’ decreased significantly. However, levels of optimum advice post-video remained low with just over half of participants being unable to provide the optimum legal advice for any of the post-video scenarios. Our results point to gaps in parents’ understanding of their children’s legal rights. This may prevent children from receiving the full benefit of the extra protections accorded to them by law. Future research should examine parents’ advice to their children in actual police interviews to establish the ecological validity of the current study.<br>

THE ADVICE PARENTS GIVE THEIR CHILDREN DURING POLICE QUESTIONING

<p><b>Justice systems often assume that the participation of a trusted adult compensates for the </b></p><p>developmental differences young people exhibit when understanding and applying their legal rights. </p><p>We recruited a community sample of parents with children between the ages of 10-18 years to </p><p>examine the advice they provided in hypothetical police questioning situations. All participants read </p><p>scenarios where they imagined their child was being questioned by police, then selected the advice </p><p>they would give their child. Participants were quasi randomly allocated to the Extra Information (EI) </p><p>condition (n = 49) or the Business as Usual (BAU) condition (n = 56 ). Those allocated to the EI </p><p>group watched a video which told them their child’s legal rights, explained these rights to them and </p><p>explained their role as their child’s nominated person. Those allocated to the BAU group watched a </p><p>video in which they were informed of their child’s legal rights. Parents then read more scenarios and </p><p>asked what advice they would give their child. Pre-video advice was problematic with the optimum </p><p>legal advice being provided 2.85% of the time, and participants advising their child to remain silent </p><p>13.57% of the time. Advice improved post-video in both groups, with the EI group improving slightly </p><p>more than the BAU group. Overall, post-video advice to ‘remain silent’ increased significantly, and </p><p>post-video advice to ‘tell the police everything’ decreased significantly. However, levels of optimum </p><p>advice post-video remained low with just over half of participants being unable to provide the </p><p>optimum legal advice for any of the post-video scenarios. Our results point to gaps in parents’ </p><p>understanding of their children’s legal rights. This may prevent children from receiving the full </p><p>benefit of the extra protections accorded to them by law. Future research should examine parents’ </p><p>advice to their children in actual police interviews to establish the ecological validity of the current </p><p>study.</p>

THE ADVICE PARENTS GIVE THEIR CHILDREN DURING POLICE QUESTIONING

<p><b>Justice systems often assume that the participation of a trusted adult compensates for the </b></p><p>developmental differences young people exhibit when understanding and applying their legal rights. </p><p>We recruited a community sample of parents with children between the ages of 10-18 years to </p><p>examine the advice they provided in hypothetical police questioning situations. All participants read </p><p>scenarios where they imagined their child was being questioned by police, then selected the advice </p><p>they would give their child. Participants were quasi randomly allocated to the Extra Information (EI) </p><p>condition (n = 49) or the Business as Usual (BAU) condition (n = 56 ). Those allocated to the EI </p><p>group watched a video which told them their child’s legal rights, explained these rights to them and </p><p>explained their role as their child’s nominated person. Those allocated to the BAU group watched a </p><p>video in which they were informed of their child’s legal rights. Parents then read more scenarios and </p><p>asked what advice they would give their child. Pre-video advice was problematic with the optimum </p><p>legal advice being provided 2.85% of the time, and participants advising their child to remain silent </p><p>13.57% of the time. Advice improved post-video in both groups, with the EI group improving slightly </p><p>more than the BAU group. Overall, post-video advice to ‘remain silent’ increased significantly, and </p><p>post-video advice to ‘tell the police everything’ decreased significantly. However, levels of optimum </p><p>advice post-video remained low with just over half of participants being unable to provide the </p><p>optimum legal advice for any of the post-video scenarios. Our results point to gaps in parents’ </p><p>understanding of their children’s legal rights. This may prevent children from receiving the full </p><p>benefit of the extra protections accorded to them by law. Future research should examine parents’ </p><p>advice to their children in actual police interviews to establish the ecological validity of the current </p><p>study.</p>

The Aftermath

Chapter 4 traces the aftermath of the formulation of the Judges’ Rules over the period 1918–60 including their reissue and additional interpretations of 1930, 1946, and 1947. In this account the technical disarray over the meaning of the Rules is analysed and the consequences for policing practices. There is an emphasis both upon the impact upon police culture, particularly within the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) from its origins in 1878, and the emergence and intensification of various forms of police deviance and corruption. The chapter links these developments to the experiences of suspects subjected to police questioning practices alongside, in the age of capital punishment, accounts of early cases of miscarriages of justice including that of Timothy Evans for murders committed by John Reginald Christie. In the face of Home Office resistance, public pressure eventually forced the establishment of a Royal Commission on the Police (1962) and a separate review of the Judges’ Rules (1964).

5. Questioning

This chapter examines the questioning stage of the criminal process, looking at the role and powers of the police. It covers the context of questioning and interviewing of suspects, interviewing victims, and confessions in court. It argues that confessions remain a suspect type of evidence despite the fact that the police questioning process is well regulated. Police detention will always be stressful, and innocent suspects will always have some incentives for confessing. This is why there is a case to be made for the corroboration of confessions. It is also crucial that the gains made since the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) are not undermined by government initiatives to cut costs by reducing the amount and quality of legal advice available to suspects.