Human Rights and Legal Limits on the Use of Deception Detection Methods: A View From Germany

Establishing the truth is a key element of legal proceedings, criminal investigations in particular. It is an essential precondition for prosecuting and sentencing the guilty, but also for protecting the innocent. With regard to the latter, the obligation to reveal the truth is an emanation of proce...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:European psychologist 2014, Vol.19 (3), p.221-223
Main Author: Böse, Martin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Criminal Behavior
Deception
Human
Human Rights
Law Enforcement
Legal Processes
Procedural Justice
Truth
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Establishing the truth is a key element of legal proceedings, criminal investigations in particular. It is an essential precondition for prosecuting and sentencing the guilty, but also for protecting the innocent. With regard to the latter, the obligation to reveal the truth is an emanation of procedural justice and a procedural safeguard for the accused. The revelation of the truth is not, however, an objective to be pursued ‘‘at any price.’’ Law enforcement authorities and courts have to respect the fundamental rights and the legal status of the defendant in criminal proceedings. Thus, from a legal perspective, methods and techniques of deception detection are ambivalent; a useful instrument for law enforcement on the one hand, a potential threat to individual rights on the other. The articles in this special issue provide a rich panoply of the potentials and challenges of deception detection in criminal investigations. In this article, the author deals mainly with the limitations arising from the legal and procedural framework. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
ISSN:1016-9040
1878-531X
DOI:10.1027/1016-9040/a000210