Course purpose
This course develops a careful framework for distinguishing admissions from confessions, recognising personal and situational false-confession risks, preserving the complete interview record and evaluating a statement against independent evidence. It does not teach methods designed to obtain confessions.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion, the learner should be able to:
1. Distinguish admissions, confessions, denials and qualified statements without overstating their meaning.
2. Recognise situational and personal factors associated with unreliable or false confessions.
3. Document and evaluate voluntariness, source knowledge, contamination and corroboration.
4. Explain the legal, investigative, ethical and organisational implications of relying on confession evidence.
Forensic CPD
