The author of this post is Tripti Bhushan, Teaching and Research for Intellectual Pursuit (TRIPS)Fellow & Academic Tutor at O.P Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat, Haryana & Mr. Abhijit Umesh Saste, Lecturer at O.P Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat, Haryana
Introduction
Confessions are the admission of any fact by a wrongdoer in such a way that it can be used against him in criminal proceedings. A False Confession occurs when a person who is not guilty of an offence makes a confession about that offence.
A person can provide a false confession and admit to a crime for which he or she is not guilty for a variety of reasons. The threat of the investigating authorities, as well as the use of unjust questioning techniques by the police, are all prevalent factors. As far as a criminal case is concerned, an accused’s confession might be considered one of the most essential pieces of evidence.
Suspects who are prone to making false admissions
Although false confessions can be obtained from any person, whether vulnerable or not, when it comes to interrogation practises and the collection of false evidence by police officials, there is a class of people who can be considered defenceless within this practice due to physical atrocities or mental retardation.
In India, the law states that confessions made in front of police officers are not acceptable in court and cannot be used as a sole basis for confession. The admissibility of statements made in front of the police is discussed in Section-161 of the Criminal Procedure Code of 1973.
The police’s ability to extract false confessions from anyone in detention is limited as a result of this limitation, as their statement will be useless. Second, each accused is only held in police custody for a maximum of 15 days to assure his or her safety and protection. The accused’s safety in jail is also ensured through medical examinations before and after incarceration.
False confessions in other countries
The United States of America is a country in the United States of America.
The Supreme Court of the United States has repeatedly renounced and established the concept that confessions obtained through coercion and violence cannot be accepted as evidence for the accused’s guilt. In order to lower the percentage of false confessions, the United States has implemented a variety of policies and regulations, including:
a. DNA Exoneration and Testing
It ensures that no one is unfairly condemned on the basis of a false confession obtained under duress. DNA testing can assist determine whether or not a person was engaged in a certain crime (specifically the offences involving physical contact such as rape).
b.. Third-degree treatment reduction
In the past, cruel and inhumane methods of interrogation were common in the United States, but by the end of the nineteenth century, they had been greatly decreased and limited.
c. Accused Persons’ Rights
People are being made aware of their rights, which include being informed of the charges levelled against them and being provided with a lawyer to defend their case.
d. Compulsory confessions (Unreliable)
When a court discovers that a confession was made involuntarily, the court is more likely to reject it, giving moral support to the accused and ensuring that the authorities’ invocation of rights serves no purpose.
The Uniform Evidence Act of Australia
In recent years, Australia’s Uniform Evidence Law has given a solid basis for limiting the admission of evidence to that which has not been lawfully gathered.
Varied countries have different approaches to dealing with the problem of false confessions, and as technology and the IT sector have advanced, several new approaches have been discovered, adopted, and incorporated into the judicial system. The fact remains that this problem still exists in our society as a result of some undesirable individuals who hinder proper practises and procedures from being followed.
Conclusion
From the preceding discussion, it is clear that raising public awareness about existing rights is just as vital as putting those rights into practise. In India, the restrictions on the days of custody as well as the medical examination of the accused reduces the risk of false confessions and such methods have proved to be appropriate in the Indian scenario.
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Preferred Citation: Tripti Bhushan & Abhijit Umesh Saste , Insight of False Confessions and Procedure of Handling in various countries , The Criminal and Constitutional Law Blog, Published on 01st May 2022