What happened in there? Confessions, credibility and automatic exclusion: the case of Artt and confession admissibility

Abstract

Confessions ought to be excluded if it is shown that credibility of the police’s version of events at interview is disputed, and it is found procedural requirements relating to recording of interviews under Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 Codes were not observed. This article posits that, where the assessment of what occurred in an interview room depends on the trial judge’s assessment of the accused’s credibility versus the police’s credibility, a breach of the relevant Codes should mean a trial judge should doubt the police’s version of events and prefer the accused’s version of events. This leads to the exclusion of the confession.While giving particular attention to the recent Northern Ireland Court of Appeal decision of R v Kevin Artt, this article suggests a policy that can apply to jurisdictions beyond the Northern Irish jurisdiction, especially where recording of interviews is not routine. Analogies will be made with similar provisions in the United States where appropriate.