ABSTRACT
Of all the different types of evidence, a confession is the most compelling. The fact that the accused has admitted responsibility for an offence will be taken by many jurors as conclusive evidence of their guilt and for this reason the existence of a confession presents an enormous obstacle to the defence. When considering the application of Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) to confession evidence it is important to consider Code C as many of the successful applications for the exclusion of confession evidence follow a breach of its provisions. Under section 67(9), persons who are charged with the duty of investigating offences or charging offenders and who are not police officers are bound by relevant provisions of the Codes. Although confessions may be excluded under section 76 of PACE which applies only to confession evidence, there is also the possibility of exclusion under section 78 which applies to all forms of evidence, including confessions.
