Does methodology matter in eyewitness identification research? The effect of live versus video exposure on eyewitness identification accuracy

The present study examined the effect of mode of target exposure (live versus video) on eyewitness identification accuracy. Adult participants (N=104) were exposed to a staged crime that they witnessed either live or on videotape. Participants were then asked to rate their stress and arousal levels prior to being presented with either a target-present or -absent simultaneous lineup. Across target-present and -absent lineups, mode of target exposure did not have a significant effect on identification accuracy. However, mode of target exposure was found to have a significant effect on stress and arousal levels. Participants who witnessed the crime live had higher levels of stress and arousal than those who were exposed to the videotaped crime. A higher level of arousal was significantly related to poorer identification accuracy for those in the video condition. For participants in the live condition however, stress and arousal had no effect on eyewitness identification accuracy. Implications of these findings in regards to the generalizability of laboratory-based research on eyewitness testimony to real-life crime are discussed.     

Can a witness report hearsay evidence unintentionally? The effects of discussion on eyewitness memory

Abstract

When eyewitnesses are exposed to misinformation about an event from a co-witness, they often incorporate this misinformation in their recall of the event. The current research aimed to investigate whether this memory conformity phenomenon is due to change in the witness's memory for the event, or to social pressures to conform to the co-witness's account. Participants were shown a crime video and then asked to discuss the video in groups, with some receiving misinformation about the event from their discussion partners. After a one-week delay some participants were warned about possible misinformation before all participants provided their own account of the event. In Study 1, participants made remember/know judgments about the items recalled, and in Study 2 they indicated the source of their memories. Co-witness information was incorporated into participants’ testimonies, and this effect was not reduced by warnings or source monitoring instructions, suggesting memory change may have occurred. However, there was some indication that remember/know judgments may help distinguish between ‘real’ memories and co-witness information.     

Can experts help jurors to evaluate eyewitness evidence? A review of eyewitness expert effects

Courts occasionally permit psychologists to present expert evidence in an attempt to help jurors evaluate eyewitness identification evidence. This paper reviews research assessing the impact of this expert evidence, which we argue should aim to increase jurors' ability to discriminate accurate from inaccurate identifications. With this in mind we identify three different research designs, two indirectly measuring the expert's impact on juror discrimination accuracy and one which directly assesses its effect on this measure. Across a total of 24 experiments, three have used the superior direct methodology, only one of which provides evidence that expert testimony can improve jurors' ability to discriminate between accurate and inaccurate eyewitness identifications.     

The Commonwealth of Nations today: historical anachronism or focus for universal values?

The creation of the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) in July 2010, to report on future structures of the Commonwealth of Nations, focuses attention on the activities that the Commonwealth and its Secretariat perform well and those that require improvement. The author, now a member of the EPG, explains how the Commonwealth evolved out of the British Empire; the importance of the links of law, language and tradition that bind it together; and the activities that are well performed: professional links; education and publications; electoral observations; provision of good offices; and consensus over core values. He notes useful new initiatives, including periodic human rights reviews; outreach to youth; pursuit of women’s equality; and the use of new information technology. However, he also identifies a number of areas of weakness: publicity and communications; secretariat organisation; the focus of some activities; and effective attention to reported human rights abuses. Given the creation of the EPG, this is a timely survey of the challenges that lie before it and the Commonwealth.     

The Self-Administered Interview: a means of improving children's eyewitness performance?

Abstract

In order to obtain the most informative and correct statements, witnesses should be heard as soon as possible after the incident. However, this is not always possible. This experimental study investigated whether completing a Self-Administered Interview form (SAI) immediately after a critical event could enhance children's witness performance at a later stage. Children (N = 194, age 11–12) reported their memory of an event in a structured SAI, an open SAI, or did not report their memory (control). Two weeks later, the children were interviewed about the event. Before the interview, half of the children were subjected to social influence from a co-witness. Children's free recall of the event was enhanced by the SAI. More precisely, children in the SAI-Structured condition reported more details about the event than children in the SAI-Open condition and the control condition, without a loss of accuracy. The SAI manipulation did not, however, reduce children's vulnerability to social influence. The results suggest that the use of a SAI might prove a simple and yet effective way of increasing the quality of statements from child witnesses in some situations.     

Can international law improve mental health? Some thoughts on the proposed convention on the rights of people with disabilities

This paper examines the promise of the proposed Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities to improve the position of people with mental illness. Proponents of the new Disability Convention argue that the state of human rights abuses experienced by people with disabilities is intolerable, that the existing international law is inadequate, that additional international law will increase the visibility of people with disabilities and will clarify the fundamental entitlement to equality, and that, as a result, the position of people with disabilities will be greatly enhanced. This paper questions the value of international law to achieve real change and warns against placing too much faith in the law. The potential of a new international law to rectify the wrongs experienced by people with psychiatric disabilities will depend on whether the new law specifically displaces the existing international law which undermines the rights of people with mental illness and on the final terms of the Convention with respect to recognition and enforcement. Ironically, it is the process of developing the Convention which has been empowering, and the utility of the new law will ultimately turn on the continuation of the momentum built through this process.     

The GDPR: A game changer for electronic identification schemes? The case study of Gov.UK Verify

This article offers an interdisciplinary analysis of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the context of electronic identification schemes. Gov.UK Verify, the UK Government's electronic identification scheme, and its compatibility with some important aspects of EU data protection law are reviewed. An in-depth examination of Gov.UK Verify's architecture and the most significant constituent elements of both the Data Protection Directive and the imminent GDPR – notably the legitimising grounds for the processing of personal data and the doctrine of joint controllership – highlight several flaws inherent in the Gov.UK Verify's development and mode of operation. This article advances the argument that Gov.UK Verify is incompatible with some major substantive provisions of the EU Data Protection Framework. It also provides some general insight as to how to interpret the requirement of a legitimate legal basis and the doctrine of joint controllership. It ultimately suggests that the choice of the appropriate legal basis should depend upon a holistic approach to the relationship between the actors involved in the processing activities.     

The effect of race on criminal justice students’ career choices

This research compares White and Nonwhite criminal justice students in their career goals and reasons for studying criminal justice. Four hundred students from 12 four-year colleges and universities completed surveys for the study. The surveys included several questions about reasons why they chose to major in criminal justice and what the students hoped to achieve in their professional lives. Results of bivariate analyses indicated that students’ career choices do vary by race, but few of these differences remained significant when multivariate models were developed.     

How reliable are eyewitness memories? Effects of retention interval,violence of act,and gender stereotypes on observers' judgments of their own memory regarding witnessed act and perpetrator

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of (i) stimulus person's gender, (ii) type of act (neutral or violent), and (iii) retention interval (short or long) on observers' memory of a stimulus person. Participants were presented with one of two acts: neutral (walking around in a store) or violent (robbing a store). The retention interval was 10 minutes or one–three weeks. The dependent variables were questionnaire items concerning the participants' memory of (1) the stimulus person's appearance and (2) the event, and (3) rating scales where the participants were asked to evaluate the stimulus person's aggressiveness, insensitivity, and other personality traits as well as characteristics of the act. Results showed that when the act was violent, and a long retention interval was used, a female, but not a male, stimulus person was evaluated less harshly than with a short retention interval (enhancement of gender stereotype); a stimulus person was seen as behaving in a more masculine way when performing a violent rather than a neutral act; witnessing the violent act resulted in better self-rated memory of the stimulus person; and with increasing retention interval, the violent act was seen as less negative and the neutral act as more negative (regression toward the mean).     

Can legitimate interest be an appropriate lawful basis for processing Artificial Intelligence training datasets?

Precision and effectiveness of Artificial Intelligence (AI) models are highly dependent on the availability of genuine, relevant, and representative training data. AI systems tested and validated on poor-quality datasets can produce inaccurate, erroneous, skewed, or harmful outcomes (actions, behaviors, or decisions), with far-reaching effects on individuals' rights and freedoms.Appropriate data governance for AI development poses manifold regulatory challenges, especially regarding personal data protection. An area of concern is compliance with rules for lawful collection and processing of personal data, which implies, inter alia, that using databases for AI design and development should be based on a clear and precise legal ground: the prior consent of the data subject or another specific valid legal basis.Faced with this challenge, the European Union's personal data protection legal framework does not provide a preferred, one-size-fits-all answer, and the best option will depend on the circumstances of each case. Although there is no hierarchy among the different legal bases for data processing, in doubtful cases, consent is generally understood by data controllers as a preferred or default choice for lawful data processing. Notwithstanding this perception, obtaining data subjects' consent is not without drawbacks for AI developers or AI-data controllers, as they must meet (and demonstrate) various requirements for the validity of consent. As a result, data subjects' consent could not be a suitable and realistic option to serve AI development purposes. In view of this, it is necessary to explore the possibility of basing this type of personal data processing on lawful grounds other than the data subject's consent, specifically, the legitimate interest of the data controller or third parties. Given its features, legitimate interests could help to meet the challenge of quality, quantity, and relevance of data curation for AI training.The aim of this article is to provide an initial conceptual approach to support the debate about data governance for AI development in the European Union (EU), as well as in non-EU jurisdictions with European-like data protection laws. Based on the rules set by the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), this paper starts by referring to the relevance of adequate data curation and processing for designing trustworthy AI systems, followed by a legal analysis and conceptualization of some difficulties data controllers face for lawful processing of personal data. After reflecting on the legal standards for obtaining data subject's valid consent, the paper argues that legitimate interests (if certain criteria are met) may better match the purpose of building AI training datasets.     

The impact of “empirical facts” on legal scholarship and legal research training

Lawyers have traditionally viewed law as a closed system, and doctrinal research has been the research methodology used most widely in the profession. This reflects traditional concepts of legal reasoning. There is a wealth of reliable and valid social science data available to lawyers and judges. Judges in fact often refer to general facts about the world, society, institutions and human behaviour (“empirical facts”). Legal education needs to prepare our students for this broader legal context. This paper examines how “empirical facts” are used in Australian and other common law courts. Specifically, the paper argues that there is a need for enhanced training in non-doctrinal research methodologies across the law school curriculum. This should encompass a broad introduction to social science methods, with more attention being paid to a cross-section of methodologies such as content analysis, comparative law and surveys that are best applied to law.     

The crime of the century? The case for the Holocaust

With the twentieth century now ended the Holocaust is surelya leading contender for the title of ``The Crime of the Century.'Although a massive literature exists on the Holocaust, very littleof this literature has been produced by criminologists. Somereasons for this relative neglect are identified and a case ismade for the claim that criminology can contribute to anunderstanding of the Holocaust and that the Holocaust cancontribute to the development of a more profound criminology. Thispaper draws upon an integrative criminological approach toconstruct a framework for understanding the Holocaust. This multi-disciplinary framework links philosophical, sociolegal,sociological, behavioral and criminological dimensions todiscriminate between unique and non-unique aspects of the Holocaustas a case of genocide and as crime. The paper closes with someobservations on the relevance of the Holocaust for challengesconfronting a twenty-first century criminology.     

The numerical Hatze-model: also qualified for calculations on children?

The aim of this study was to find out whether the Hatze-model, which is specifically designed for adults, is suitable for calculations on children as well. By means of that program it is possible to calculate various parameters of the human body. After the collection of data and analysis of the results according to Hatze it becomes evident that this model provides good results only for the calculation of the total body mass. As regards the body segments, there are significant under- and overestimations. The same applies to the calculation of mean body density. Indeed there is a significant gender dimorphism indicating that girls have a higher fraction of body fat than boys. However, the values are far below those described in the literature. Due to the formula, the values of the centres of gravity are linear and congruent in both sides of the body. Interpretation of the results is difficult, as there are no valid reference values. Furthermore the program is not able to take characteristic shapes and proportions of children into account. For this reason 88% of the children are defined as either pregnant or obese. In summary, the study shows that the present model should not be used to calculate children and the human models have to be designed specifically for children.