Confessions — KSLU Bsa Notes

Confessions

A confession is an admission by an accused person of the offence (or substantially all its facts). It is a species of admission but, because it can convict, the BSA surrounds it with safeguards.

flowchart TD
    A["Is the CONFESSION relevant?"]:::root
    A --> B["Caused by inducement, threat,<br/>promise? -> IRRELEVANT (S.22)"]:::no
    A --> C["Made to a POLICE officer?<br/>-> INADMISSIBLE (S.23(1))"]:::no
    A --> D["In police custody, not before<br/>a Magistrate? -> barred (S.23(1))"]:::no
    A --> E["BUT: info leading to DISCOVERY<br/>of a fact -> that part provable (S.23(2))"]:::yes

    classDef root fill:#FFF8DC,stroke:#333,color:#000;
    classDef no fill:#FFE6E6,stroke:#8A1E1E,color:#000;
    classDef yes fill:#E6FFE6,stroke:#1E7A1E,color:#000;
    linkStyle default stroke:#888,stroke-width:1px;

A confession caused by inducement, threat or promise proceeding from a person in authority is irrelevant (S.22, ← IEA S.24). A confession made to a police officer is inadmissible, and one made in police custody is admissible only if made in the immediate presence of a Magistrate (S.23(1), ← IEA Ss.25–26). The crucial exception is the discovery rule (S.23(2), ← IEA S.27): where a fact is discovered in consequence of information from an accused in custody, only so much of the information as relates distinctly to the fact discovered is provable. A retracted confession may be acted on only with corroboration, and the confession of a co-accused (S.24) is a weak type of evidence that can only lend assurance to other evidence.