This article is written by Maturi Krishna Keerthana of 4th Semester of ICFAI Law School, Hyderabad
Abstract:
This paper gives a detailed study on what is confession and mainly focuses on false confession and explains what are the types of false confession their admissibility and the consequence of false confession and some cases regarding the false confession.
Keywords: confession, false confession, admission, Internalized confession, conclusive proof
Introduction:
A confession is a species of admission. admitting that he is guilty of that particular act but that confession should be done voluntarily without any external force or as the confession plays role in convicting him and providing him punishment a false confession is totally not admissible the confession cannot accept in parts Whenever we think of a false confession the question arises in our mind that why would an innocent confess himself as guilty what may be the reason for those confession
What is confession
The term confession has not defined anywhere in the law we can draw its meaning through some judgements
In the case of Pakala Narayanaswami vs King-Emperor[1] it was held that “A confession must either admit in terms the offence or at any rate substantially all the facts which constitute the offence. An admission of a gravely incriminating fact, even a conclusively incriminating fact is not in itself a confession”
Palvinder Kaur v State of Punjab[2] it was held that “the Supreme Court approved the Privy Council decision in Pakala Narayan Swami case Firstly, that the definition if confession is that it must either admit the guilt in terms or admit substantially all the facts which constitute the offence. Secondly, that a mixed-up statement which even though contains some confessional statement will still lead to acquittal, is no confession. Thus, a statement that contains self-exculpatory matter which if true would negate the matter or offence, cannot amount to confession”
Nishi Kant Jha v State of Bihar[3] it was held that “the Supreme Court highlighted that there is no wrong on relying some part of statements confessed by the accused and neglecting the other part, the court has traced out this concept from English Law and when court in its capacity understood that it has enough evidence to neglect the exculpatory part of the confession, then it may rely on the inculpatory part such confession.”
The Indian evidence Act covers the confession but it is not defined anywhere in the Indian evidence act Confession is nothing but “An admission made at any time by a person charged with a crime stating or suggesting the inference that he committed a crime”
Section 24 to section 30 of Indian evidence act talks about the confession generally a confession made to a police officer is not valid the confession must be made before an authorised legal person or near the magistrate confession is nothing much admitting a crime whereas the admission is nothing but admitting a fact
Types of confession:
- Judicial Confessions
- Extra-judicial Confession
- Retracted confession
Judicial confession
A judicial confession is one made in court or in front of a magistrate during a judicial proceeding. In a court of law, an accused’s ‘voluntary’ and ‘true’ confession is admissible. The accused’s court confession is admissible as evidence under Section 80 of the Act. Because it jeopardises the interests of justice, judicial confession alone cannot be utilised to condemn an accused person.
The accused may confess to a crime as a consequence of an inducement, threat, or promise, or as a result of frustration. In such cases, the genuine offender will be freed from the clutches of the law, while the innocent will face punishment. As a result, such a conviction is dangerous. Before deciding whether confession may be used as sole evidence for conviction, the court must analyse the facts of the case.
Extra judicial confession
Extra-judicial confession, also known as informal confession, is a confession spoken to a person during self-conversation or in front of anybody, even a Judicial Magistrate. They are made in the absence of a Judge or Judicial Magistrate. Even if it has been overheard by others, it is admissible, and that piece of evidence can be shown if the Court is persuaded that it is serious evidence against the accused, but it must be supported by other evidence. Extra-judicial confessions have a lower evidentiary value than court admissions. The same notion applies to both informal and court confessions, namely that the accused should be protected under Article 20(3) which deals about self-incrimination
Retracted confession:
A confession given by an accused person is immaterial in a criminal case if the Court believes the confession was induced, threatened, or promised by a person in authority in relation to the accusation against the accused person. A retracted confession is a statement made by an accused individual before the trial begins in which he or she acknowledges to committing the offence but afterwards retracts it. A confession is deemed to be retracted only when the accused admits making it and then rejects the veracity of what is said in it. A retracted confession, if regarded truthful, may form the basis of a conviction; nevertheless, establishing a conviction, even of the creator, only on a retracted confession without any independent proof is problematic.
False confession:
What is false confession
A false confession happens when a person acknowledges guilt while they are not the perpetrator of the crime. Confessions may be obtained by coercion or force in order to gain a statement. False confessions might also originate from the accused’s mental impairment. False confessions are common and cause several issues during a criminal prosecution. False confessions can also be used to escape heavy sentencing, such as pleading guilty to a smaller offence that they did not commit.
There are three types of false confessions
- Voluntary confession
- · Internalized confessions[4]
Voluntary confession:
These admissions are the result of a mental illness or a psychotic state. It is frequently done out while police personnel are not present. It occurs when a mentally disturbed person seeks self-punishment to absolve his guilt, is unable to distinguish between his imagination and reality, or wishes to protect the true perpetrator, who could be a family member, relative, or simply an accomplice, as well as exact revenge on someone. Voluntary false admissions are regarded by the police as untrustworthy and unreliable.[5]
Compliant confessions
The circumstance in which the accused is interrogated in police custody is terrifying, novel, and stressful, and it may cause anxiety in the accused. One of the most common police practises during questioning is to make the accused afraid, assuring him that if he confesses now, he would be available during the trial and the judge will be kind, which does not happen in most cases. The accused trusts the cops and feels that once he confesses, the entire questioning situation would be over, and therefore makes the confession. The accused, who is already imprisoned, has low self-esteem. and his responses may occasionally irritate the authorities, leading to the use of physical torture and mental pressure, resulting in the transmission of a false confession[6]
Internalized confessions
The confessor believes they are guilty of the crime, which might be due to a mental illness or too persuading questioning techniques. The error made by police personnel is to suspect and generate suspicion about innocent persons, which frequently leads to false confessions. When a presumption is developed about a suspect, it is almost expected that he committed the crime in the eyes of the police officers, and interrogation is conducted with the suspect in mind as the likely culprit. The behavioural analysis of the suspects gives additional proof for the police as to his body posture, how he speaks, how he confirms and denies, and if he is confident or frightened while answering inquiries. However, these criteria are a sham since each suspect is unique to the facts and circumstances of each case.[7]
Causes of false confession:
There is no one explanation or type of false confession, nor is there a single logic or justification for false confession. Police-obtained false confessions are the result of a multistep process and sequence of influence, persuasion, and acquiescence, and usually involve psychological coercion.13 However, authorities are more likely to get false confessions under specific interrogation scenarios, and people with certain personality traits and dispositions are more easily pushed into making false confessions. To understand why criminal suspects, provide false confessions, we must first understand how police investigators target criminal suspects and how police interrogation works as a psychological process, both before and after a suspect’s admission. Three errors occur in succession during a police-elicited false confession, resulting in a wrongful conviction. Investigators first mistake an innocent individual for guilty; they then subject him to guilt-presumed, accusatory interrogation, which invariably involves lying about evidence and the constant use of implicit and explicit promises and threats. They often provide the (public and non-public) facts of the crime to the innocent person after obtaining a fake admission. These are referred to as misclassification errors, coercion errors, and contamination errors.[8]
Admissibility in court
False confessions are not admissible in court. If a confession is proven to be false, the statement will very definitely be struck from the record. False confessions are not admissible in court. The person who made the false confession might face further penalties for lying in court. If a false confession was obtained by coercion or violence, the statement would be untrustworthy in court. Involuntary confessions, whether true or false, are not admissible.[9]
Ways to Prove a Confession is False
According to social scientists, there are four approaches for determining whether or not a confession is false
When it can be demonstrated that the defendant could not have committed the crime because it would have been physically impossible (in a different state or location at the time).
When the true perpetrator of a crime is identified and found to be guilty
When scientific evidence (DNA testing) definitely proves innocence
Only a small fraction of false confessions contains evidence or circumstances that indicate the confessor’s innocence beyond a reasonable doubt.[10]
Consequences of false confession
False confessions might be difficult to spot. Courts utilise a variety of techniques to detect and deal with false confessions in accordance with a set of principles known as “confession rules.” If a person is caught giving a false confession, the following may occur:
Criminal charges in a court of law: Depending on when, where, and to whom the statement was made, the person making the false confession might be charged with the following additional crimes:
Perjury
Giving a police officer false information
Contempt: A judge may hold the confessor in contempt if the false confession interferes with court operations or hinders collaboration with the opposing party.
False confessions are a major barrier to the administration of justice. Fines and perhaps jail or prison time may be imposed.[11]
False confession in India compared with other countries:
In India to deal with and identify false confessions, the court applies a variety of measures. The phrase “confession rules” refers to a set of regulations usually employed for this purpose. If a person is detected giving a false confession, the following actions can be taken against him. in UK The “investigative interview” approach was introduced in the United Kingdom in the early 1990s. The United Kingdom is often considered as a global leader in ethical interviewing. The quality of testimony in the United Kingdom is good, and criminals are dealt fairly rather than harshly. Threats or use of force, generally known as coercion, are expressly forbidden in the United Kingdom. Over time, the UK has substantially improved its interviewing procedures, emphasising fact collecting rather than extracting a confession. Furthermore, in order to safeguard the suspect’s interests, the interview has been made mandatory. In US The United States Supreme Court has frequently denounced and created standards stating that confessions gained by duress, assault, force, or intimidation cannot be used as evidence in the accused’s trial. The United States Supreme Court has established numerous guidelines for this, including DNA testing and exoneration, reducing third-degree treatment, and protecting accused individuals’ rights.[12]
Conclusion:
States must make major changes to prevent false confessions and erroneous convictions. Punishment should be used not for punishment, but to reduce crime and convert offenders. The most serious offence is imposing anything on an innocent person that forces him or her to pay damages. Investigators The first and most basic need is that all interrogations be completely documented. The coerciveness of the questioning cannot be measured unless the entire interview is recorded, but the genuine criminal continues to perpetrate his crimes while the weak, morally pure, and religious perish in prison, both literally and figuratively. Globally, it appears that developed countries have well-established regulatory frameworks and standards in place to reduce false positives., while more work remains to be done in the case of emerging or developing countries.
[1] Pakala Narayana Swami v. Emperor, 1939 SCC OnLine PC 1
[2] Palvinder Kaur v. State of Punjab, (1952) 2 SCC 177
[3] Nishi Kant Jha v. State of Bihar, (1969) 1 SCC 347
[4] False Confessions available at https://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/false-confessions.html last visited on 18 June 2023
[5] All you need to know about false confession available at < https://blog.ipleaders.in/all-you-need-to-know-about-false-confession/ last visited on 18 June 2023
[6] ibid
[7] Ibid
[8] false Confessions: Causes, Consequences, and Implications available at < https://jaapl.org/content/by/year> last visited on 18 June 2023
[9] Ibid
[10] Ibid
[11] Ibid
[12] Perception of false confessions in India and other countries: an insight available at https://blog.ipleaders.in/perception-false-confessions-india-countries-insight/ last visited on 23 June 2023
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