Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/27462
Title: Thirty Years Is Long Enough: It Is Time to Create a Process That Ensures Covert Recordings Used as Evidence in Court Are Interpreted Reliably
Contributor(s): Fraser, Helen  (author)orcid 
Publication Date: 2018
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/27462
Abstract: This article outlines a number of serious problems arising from the handling within the legal process of covert recordings used as evidence in criminal trials. These problems relate specifically to four key areas, namely: translation of material in languages other than English, transcription of indistinct English, attribution of utterances to speakers and “enhancing” of poor quality audio. The paper traces the problems back to the landmark High Court judgment of Butera 1987, and attributes them to insufficient understanding within the judiciary of well-established but counterintuitive findings of linguistic science regarding factors that affect the reliable interpretation of recorded speech. Several possible solutions to the problems are canvassed, and it is recommended that the most promising way forward is via enhanced communication and collaboration between law, law enforcement and linguistic science.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Source of Publication: Journal of Judicial Administration, 27(3), p. 95-104
Publisher: Lawbook Co
Place of Publication: Australia
ISSN: 1036-7918
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 170204 Linguistic Processes (incl. Speech Production and Comprehension)
180110 Criminal Law and Procedure
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 520405 Psycholinguistics (incl. speech production and comprehension)
480401 Criminal law
480503 Criminal procedure
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 940403 Criminal Justice
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 230403 Criminal justice
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Publisher/associated links: http://sites.thomsonreuters.com.au/journals/category/journal-of-judicial-administration/
http://sites.thomsonreuters.com.au/journals/2018/06/15/journal-of-judicial-administration-update-vol-27-pt-3/
Appears in Collections:Journal Article
School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

Files in This Item:
1 files
File SizeFormat 
Show full item record

Page view(s)

1,204
checked on Aug 11, 2024

Download(s)

8
checked on Aug 11, 2024
Google Media

Google ScholarTM

Check


Items in Research UNE are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.