“Investigating the Admissibility of Confessions in Criminal Trials in Sierra Leoneâ€

Francois Joseph Bockarie and Ph.D. Pierrette Essama-Mekongo
Additional contact information
Francois Joseph Bockarie: Pan-African University Institute of Governance, Humanities and Social Sciences, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Ph.D. Pierrette Essama-Mekongo: Pan-African University Institute of Governance, Humanities and Social Sciences, Yaoundé, Cameroon

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 2024, vol. 8, issue 2, 750-760

Abstract: This paper examines the rules for the admissibility of confession evidence in a criminal trial and any exclusionary principles in Sierra Leone. As a principle, a voluntary confession is admissible in the trial of the accused that made it. Sometimes, confessions carry much weight as convicting an accused independently. Even though illegally obtained evidence relevant to the matter is admissible in courts, confession illegally obtained constitutes an exception. This article claims that how certain extra-judicial confessions are obtained from accused persons is wholly or partly influenced by force, threat, fear, intimidation or promise. This makes such confession evidence “illegally obtained†and, therefore, legally inadmissible. This article uses secondary sources, including legislation, decided cases, textbooks, journals and articles, to give a comprehensive analysis of the issue by exploring the procedure and practice of courts regarding the inadmissibility of confession evidence in Sierra Leone. This reveals the challenges in the administration of justice in criminal trials. Recommendations are therefore tendered to help cure the weaknesses of the confessions’ admissibility system in Sierra Leone.

Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/ ... -issue-2/750-760.pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/ ... als-in-sierra-leone/

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bcp:journl:v:8:y:2024:i:2:p:750-760

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science is currently edited by Dr. Nidhi Malhan

More articles in International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science from International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS)
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Dr. Pawan Verma ().