p. 41610. Confessions
- Roderick MundayRoderick MundayBencher of Lincoln’s Inn Fellow Emeritus of Peterhouse, Cambridge Reader Emeritus in Law, University of Cambridge
Abstract
Titles in the Core Text series take the reader straight to the heart of the subject, providing focused, concise, and reliable guides for students at all levels. This chapter discusses the following: what constitutes a ‘confession’ under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE), s 82(1)?; when an accused’s silence may amount to an admission at common law, whether a denial can ever amount to a ‘confession’ under PACE, s 82(1); the conditions of admissibility of confessions under PACE; confessions made by mentally handicapped persons (PACE, s 77); the admissibility of evidence discovered in consequence of an inadmissible confession; using an inadmissible confession to show that the accused speaks, writes, or expresses himself in a particular way; the status of ‘mixed statements’; an accused’s admission is not normally evidence against other co-accused; an accused’s right to use his co-accused’s confession (PACE, s 76A); admissibility of confessions by third parties.
