FALSE CONFESSION IN VARIOUS

JURSDICTIONS OF THE WORLD

21-03-19

NAME: SAVEEZA KABSHA

ROLL NO: 2015-LLB-022
SEMESTER: VIII
COURSE: LAW OF EVIDENCE-Il Saveeza Kabsha
INSTRUCTOR: MA’AM ZAHISH FARID KHAN
DEPTT: LAW Constitutional Law
TOPIC: FALSE CONFESSION & THE WAY IT IS TREATED IN VARIOUS
9/17/2018
JURISDICTIONS OF THE WORLD
ABSTRACT
FALSE CONFESSION IN VARIOUS JURISDICTIONS OF THE WORLD 1

In recent years, many cases related to false and extorted confessions have come in spotlight.

Such confessions have been obtained through physical torture, psychological trickery and

mental humiliation under investigation of suspects by the police. This research provides how

various jurisdictions of the world handle false and extorted confession.

Key words; Confession, Voluntary, False Confession, Extorted Confession, Police,

Investigation, Magistrate, Penal Code, Miranda Rights

FALSE CONFESSION IN VARIOUS JURISDICTIONS OF THE WORLD 2

1. False Confession

A false confession is an admission (“I did it”) plus a post-admission narrative (a detailed

description of how and why the crime occurred) of a crime that the confessor did not

commit. (Cooley, Craig, Turvey, 2014)

2. Types of False Confession

In 1985 social psychologists Saul Kassin and Lawrence Wrightsman, drawing on case

studies and social psychological theories of attitude change, first identified three distinct

types of false confession, which they called

 Voluntary (occurring “in the absence of elicitation”)

 Coerced-compliant (occurring when “the suspect publicly professes guilt in response

to extreme methods of interrogation, despite knowing privately that he or she is truly

innocent”)

 Coerced-internalized (occurring when the suspect “actually comes to believe that he

or she committed the offense”).

Ofshe and Leo extended and modified the initial typology of Kassin and Wrightsman to

include five distinct types of false confession:

 Voluntary

 Stress-compliant

 Coerced compliant

 Coerced-persuaded

 Noncoerced-persuaded

This classification scheme most accurately captures the psychological logic and variation

in false confessions. For simplicity, researchers have dropped the various prefixes and

simply refer to voluntary, compliant, and persuaded false confessions. (Ofshe, Leo, 2005)

2.1. Voluntary False Confessions

FALSE CONFESSION IN VARIOUS JURISDICTIONS OF THE WORLD 3

Kassin and Wrightsman initially defined a voluntary false confession as one that is

offered in the absence of police interrogation. Voluntary false confessions are thus

explained by the internal psychological states of the confessor or by external pressure

brought to bear on the confessor by someone other than the police. (Kassin,

Wrightsman, 1999)

High-profile crimes, such as the Lindbergh kidnapping in the 1930s, the Black Dahlia

murder in the 1940s, and the JonBenet Ramsey and Nicole Brown Simpson murders in

the 1990s, tend to attract a large number of voluntary false confessions. (New York

Times, 1990)

2.2. Compliant False Confessions

A compliant false confession is one given in response to police coercion or pressure to

achieve some instrumental benefit—typically either to terminate and thus escape from

an aversive interrogation process, to take advantage of a perceived suggestion or

promise of leniency, or to avoid an anticipated harsh punishment. Perhaps the most

distinct aspect of compliant false confessions is that they are made knowingly: the

suspect admits guilt with the knowledge that he is innocent and that what he says is

false. Compliant false confessions are typically recanted shortly after the interrogation

is over.

In the pre-modern era of American interrogation, physical coercion was the primary

cause of such confessions. Innocent suspects knowingly falsely confessed to avoid or

end physical assaults, torture sessions, and the like. In the modern era, psychological

coercion is the primary source of compliant false confessions. Psychologically oriented

interrogation techniques are just as capable of eliciting compliant false confessions as

are physical ones. (Drake, 2007)

FALSE CONFESSION IN VARIOUS JURISDICTIONS OF THE WORLD 4

As has been well documented, American police use interrogation techniques that are

designed, on the one hand, to convince a suspect that he is caught and that it is futile for

him to deny the crime and, on the other hand, techniques that are designed to motivate

him to perceive that it is in his interest to confess. The most potent psychological

inducement is the suggestion that the suspect will be treated more leniently if he

confesses and more punitively if he does not.

2.3. Persuaded False Confessions

Persuaded false confessions occur when police interrogation tactics cause an innocent

suspect to doubt his memory and he becomes temporarily persuaded that it is more

likely than not that he committed the crime, despite having no memory of committing

it. Persuaded false confessions typically unfold in three sequential steps.

 First, the interrogator causes the suspect to doubt his innocence.

 To convince the suspect that it is plausible, and likely, that he committed the crime,

the interrogators supply him with a reason that satisfactorily explains how he could

have done it without remembering it.

 The third and final step in the making of a persuaded false confession is the

construction of the postadmission narrative. The interrogator pushes him to supply

the details of how and why he did it. The suspect does not know the facts; he is in

the paradoxical situation of believing he committed an act that he wants to confess

to but cannot remember. (Susan Saulney, 2002)

3. International Law

As already assessed, the false confessions are extorted in police investigations to save

themselves trouble of finding actual culprit. Police uses torture for this purpose and the

suspect is tortured until he falsely confesses to crime.

FALSE CONFESSION IN VARIOUS JURISDICTIONS OF THE WORLD 5

The concept of right to silence is not specifically mentioned in the European Convention

on Human Rights but the European Court of Human Rights has held that the right to

remain silent under police questioning and the privilege against self-incrimination are

generally recognized international standards which lie at the heart of the notion of a fair

procedure under Article 6. [Murray v UK [1996] ECHR 3]

4. India

In India, there is no room for extorted confessions which are essentially false.

4.1. Indian Penal Code

Section 330: Voluntarily causing hurt to extort confession, or to compel restoration of

property

Whoever voluntarily causes hurt for the purpose of extorting from the sufferer or any

person interested in the sufferer, any confession or any information which may lead to

the detection of an offence or misconduct, or for the purpose of constraining the sufferer

or any person interested in the sufferer to restore or to cause the restoration of any

property or valuable security or to satisfy any claim or demand, or to give information

which may lead to the restoration of any property or valuable security, shall be punished

with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years,

and shall also be liable to fine.

4.2. Indian Evidence Act, 1972

A confession becomes irrelevant and inacceptable in situation derived in section 24, 25

and 26 of Indian Evidence Act, 1972

 Section 24 – confession caused by inducement, threat or promise from a person in

authority

 Section 25 – confession to police officer not to be proved

FALSE CONFESSION IN VARIOUS JURISDICTIONS OF THE WORLD 6

 Section 26 – confession of accused while in custody of police not to be admissible

unless it is made in immediate presence of Magistrate

5. USA

5.1. Miranda Rights

In 1966, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the historic case of Miranda v. Arizona,

declaring that whenever a person is taken into police custody, before being questioned

he or she must be told of the Fifth Amendment right not to make any self-incriminating

statements. As a result of Miranda, anyone in police custody must be told four things

before being questioned:

 You have the right to remain silent.

 Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.

 You have the right to an attorney.

 If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you.

5.2. Pre-Miranda and Post-Miranda Cases

In pre-Miranda cases, the Supreme Court recognized that in some circumstances,

trickery during interrogations was coercive and rendered confessions inadmissible.

(Mooney v. Holohan)

In post-Miranda cases, however, the Court has applied a “totality of the circumstances”

test and indicated that, so long as the police comply with Miranda, statements obtained

through deceptive interrogation practices will almost invariably be admissible. (Cheney

v. U.S. Dist. Court for the Dist. of Columbia)

5.3. Miranda Warning

When police officers question a suspect in custody without first giving the Miranda

warning, any statement or confession made is presumed to be involuntary, and cannot

FALSE CONFESSION IN VARIOUS JURISDICTIONS OF THE WORLD 7

be used against the suspect in any criminal case. Any evidence discovered as a result of

that statement or confession will likely also be thrown out of the case.

5.4. Central Park Incident

The Central Park Five New York City experienced one of its most infamous crimes on

April 19, 1989 when a 28-year old woman named Trisha Meili was raped and severely

beaten while jogging through Central Park. The attack left her in a coma and she had no

memory of the incident after she recovered. Five Harlem youths – Anton McCray,

Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Yusef Salaam, and Kharey Wise—had been in

the park the night of the attack and were brought in for an interrogation. With the

exception of Salaam, they would each make videotaped confessions to the crime. The

Central Park Five were all tried and found guilty and given sentences ranging from five

to thirteen years. However, all five youths would recant their confessions and claim

they had been coerced and intimidated by the police. Their statements were not

consistent with the physical evidence and the prosecution downplayed the fact that none

of the DNA from the crime scene matched them. In 2002, the DNA did wind up

matching a convicted serial rapist named Matias Reyes, who finally admitted to the

crime and confirmed that he did it alone. By that time, the Central Park Five had

already served their sentences and been forced to register as sex offenders after being

released. On the basis of Reyes’ confession, their convictions were officially vacated.

(Susan Saulney, 2002)

6. UK

This statement is very similar to the Miranda Rights read to those under arrest in the

United States.
FALSE CONFESSION IN VARIOUS JURISDICTIONS OF THE WORLD 8

"You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention

when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be

given in evidence."

The main difference between US and UK Miranda rights is that Fifth Amendment of the

US Constitution states that no one must incriminate himself or herself.  Those under

arrest in the United States have the "right to remain silent" which "cannot be held against

(them) in a court of law." It seems like, in Great Britain, a person under arrest has to come

up with an alibi or "defence" pretty quickly. 

6.1. Birmingham Six Case

The UK case of the Birmingham Six is a classic example of differences in people's

susceptibility to confessing under pressure. It concerned the 1975 bombing of two

Birmingham pubs, killing 21 and injuring almost 200 others. The attack was attributed to

the provisional IRA, but the six innocent Irish Catholic immigrants who were handed life

sentences were released 16 years later after they were deemed to have been wrongfully

convicted. The men were severely abused in police custody, and personality tests later

showed that the four who confessed were more suggestible and compliant than the two

that didn't. (www.news/crimes-didnt-commit.html)

7. Pakistan

In Pakistan, forced confessions which are essentially false are penalized under Pakistan

Penal Code, 1860.

7.1. Pakistan Penal Code, 1860

Section 348. Wrongful confinement to extort confession, or compel restoration of

property. Whoever wrongfully confines any person for the purpose of extorting from

the person confined or any, person interested in the person confined any confession or

any information which may lead to the detection of an offence or misconduct, or for the
FALSE CONFESSION IN VARIOUS JURISDICTIONS OF THE WORLD 9

purpose of constraining the person confined or any person interested in the person

confined to restore or to cause the restoration of any property or valuable security or to

satisfy any claim or demand, or to give information which may lead to the restoration of

any property or valuable security, shall be punished with imprisonment of either

description for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine.

7.2. Procedure

Statement of accused becomes confession only when recorded in compliance of the

provisions of S. 164 and 364 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 after observing

necessary precautions and formalities.

7.3. Procedure which magistrate must adopt while recording confession

As soon as person is produced before a magistrate for getting his confession recorded

followings are things which magistrate must observe;

 His handcuffs should be removed

 All the police officers shall be turned out of court room

 He should be informed that he was before a magistrate and that whether he made

any statement or not, he will not be handed back to the police but will be sent to the

judicial lockup.

 He should be given sufficient time to ponder over the matter

 He should be warned that he was not bound to make any statement and if he did so

it may be used as evidence against him.

7.4. Characteristics of Confession in light of Case Laws

 Confessional statement of accused must be supported and corroborated through

some independent and reliable evidence to reply upon same for his conviction (2008

P.Cr.L.J. 507)
FALSE CONFESSION IN VARIOUS JURISDICTIONS OF THE WORLD 10

 Confession of one accused would not be sufficient to prove innocence and non-

involvement of other accused in commission of murder when it appears that

confessing accusing made confession to save lives of other co-accused who happens

to be his sons. (2001 P.Cr.L.J. 301)

 Confessional statement cannot be used against an accused if the same is not put to

him while recording his statement u/s 342 Cr.P.C. (2007 P.Cr.L.J. 276)

 All questions put to the accused and his answers thereto must be recorded in

writing. (PLD 1994 Pesh. 102)

 Exculpatory confessional statement cannot be used against co-accused for the

purpose of conviction. (2008 P.Cr.L.J.)

 Confessional statement of one accused can be used as a corroborative piece of

evidence against other accused. (NLR 2003 A.C. 1)

 Confession recorded on oath is inadmissible. (PLD 2005 Pesh. 46)

 Confessional statement although retracted would be sufficient piece of evidence for

conviction if it is found true, voluntary and having not been obtained by coercion,

inducement of torture. (PLD 2005 S.C. 168)

 If confession is made by the accused before police officer then it becomes his duty

to get his confessional statement recorded before the competent magistrate

otherwise such confession is not admissible in evidence. (2008 MLD 430)

8. Islamic Law

Confession has been recognized as a source of conclusive proof of a right and a crime by

the Holy Quran and the sunnah of the prophet (PHUH) and he implemented Hadd merely

on the confession of the accused.

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However, a confession must be true, clear and devoid of ambiguity. It must be subject to

one and same interpretations at all times and where an admission is clear; it is binding on

the court to act upon it.

8.1. The Holy Quran

There are numerous verses on the subject, but suffice it to mention the following, Quran

Chapter 2 verse 282:

“Let him who incurs the liability dictate (to admit) but let him fear his Lord and not

diminish aught what he owes”.

In this verse, there is an order from Allah that if one incurs liability the person must admit

it fully. Allah also says in Quran 2:28: 

“Nor it is lawful for them to hide what Allah had created in their wombs if they have faith

in Allah and the last day‟

This is also an order that a woman must admit her pregnancy if at all she is pregnant.

Allah also says that:

“O you who believe! Be staunch in justice witness for God even though it is against

yourself‟.

8.2. The Sunnah

The Sunnah is another legal basis for confession in Islam. The prophet (PBUH) is

reported to have said: “Speak the truth even though is against yourself”.

The prophet executed “Maiz‟, the Ghamedia and Guhaina women on the basis of their

admission or confession of committing zina. It has also been related on the authority of

Jabir bin Abdullah who said that a man from the tribe of Banu Aslam came to the Holy

Prophet (PBUH) and confessed to have committed zina and gave testimony against

himself four times. The Holy prophet then ordered him to be stoned to death.
FALSE CONFESSION IN VARIOUS JURISDICTIONS OF THE WORLD 12

Finally, another legal basis of confession in Islam is from the Sahabahs. All companions

of the prophet and their followers have followed the prophetic way and accepted

admission as the highest and strongest means of proof in Islamic of evidence.

9. Conclusion

It is an irrational belief that someone may make a confession against himself which is

false. This is logically only possible if such person is subject to torture or that confession

is involuntary. Only then can a confession be false. To protect against coerced and

extorted confessions, various countries have devised proper laws to record confession to

make sure it isn’t induced and thus is genuine.

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References

 Cooley, M., Craig, and Turvey E. Brent. Miscarriages of Justice: Actual Innocence,

Forensic Evidence, and the Law. 1st ed. Academic Press, 2014. p116

  True Confessions?, Time Magazine, December 12, 2005.

 [Murray v UK [1996] ECHR 3]

 Susan Saulny, Convictions and Charges Voided in ’89 Central Park Jogger Attack, N.Y.

TIMES, Dec. 20, 2002

 Indian Penal Code

 Indian Evidence Act, 1972

 Miranda v. Arizona

 Mooney v. Holohan, 294 U.S. 103 (1935)

 Cheney v. U.S. Dist. Court for the Dist. of Columbia, 542 U.S. 367, 384 (2004

 Pakistan Penal Code, 1860

 Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898

 2008 P.Cr.L.J. 507

 2001 P.Cr.L.J. 301

 2007 P.Cr.L.J. 276

 PLD 1994 Pesh. 102

 2008 P.Cr.L.J. 507

 2008 P.Cr.L.J

 NLR 2003 A.C. 1

 PLD 2005 Pesh. 46

 PLD 2005 S.C. 168

 2008 MLD 430