Admissions and confessions Flashcards
(2 cards)
What are the two strict rules and three “discretions” relating to the admissibility of admissions and confessions?
The admissibility of admissions or confessions at common law depends on two strict rules and on the operation of three “discretions”.
The first strict rule is the “inducement rule” of voluntariness: an admission by an accused person “is not voluntary if it is preceded by an inducement, such as a threat or promise, held out by a person in authority, unless the inducement is shown to have been removed.”
The second strict rule is that an admission is inadmissible if it is involuntary in the sense of what is known as “basal involuntariness”.(Although, admissions by conduct need not be voluntary.)
The first “discretion” permits the court to exclude evidence if it has been obtained in an improper manner.
The second “discretion” exists where “in all the circumstances it would be unfair to use [a voluntary confession] in evidence against” the accused.
The third “discretion” is the application to confessions of the “discretion” to exclude evidence the prejudicial effect of which exceeds its probative value.
