Utility Of Confessional Statement In Criminal Trials

AbstractA person standing trial for a criminal offence enjoys the presumption of innocence until his guilt is proved, the proof of which must be beyond reasonable doubt. Nonetheless, the suspect can confess to the commission of the crime and the court is empowered to convict, based on the weight of such confession. Incidentally, the court is often faced with objections to the admissibility of confessional statements based on the ground of retraction or involuntariness. Despite increased evidence that confessions may be unreliable, they remain the gold standard of evidence for police investigat…