Interrogations-and-Confessions-Handbook

CHAPTER 7
Miscarriages of Justice
and False Confessions
In this chapter the literature and review studies into false confession are discussed
within the broader framework of the miscarriage of justice, to which
false confessions sometimes lead. The main purpose is to identify the reasons
for wrongful convictions. It will be argued that wrongful convictions are typically
caused by a combination of factors, rather than by one factor acting exclusively.
Important case illustrations will be given of two notorious British cases
of wrongful conviction resulting from false confessions.
MISCARRIAGES OF JUSTICE
It is difficult to think of a judicial system that is likely to be free of miscarriages
of justice. Indeed, all judicial systems, whether adversarial or inquisitorial, are
inherently fallible. The basic recognition of the inherent fallibility of judicial
systems is essential if miscarriages of justice are to be properly identified and
dealt with. Unfortunately, as Woffinden (1989) so rightly points out, too often
people have a misguided faith in the infallibility of the criminal justice system.
The situation is very serious in that people who are wrongly convicted
may spend many years in prison before their conviction is quashed or they
are pardoned. Woffinden goes as far as to suggest that the great majority of
miscarriages of justice are never put right.
In its broadest sense, four different ways in which justice has miscarried can
be identified.
1. It may occur because the defendant did not receive a fair trial, even though
he may have committed the offence in question. Therefore, the defendant
may be legally innocent, but factually guilty. For example, a defendant who
is convicted on the basis of fabricated evidence, even though he committed
the offence, is innocent in law as the use of unfair means and violation of
due legal process convicted him.
2. There are cases of defendants who were only marginally involved in the
case but were convicted of a more serious charge.