Forensic transcription: The case for transcription as a dedicated branch of linguistic science

Abstract

This chapter provides a general introduction to the relatively new field of forensic transcription: the theory and practice of providing reliable and useful transcripts of indistinct recordings admitted as evidence in criminal trials. It highlights problems caused by confident false beliefs within the law about the nature of speech and how speech perception works, and discusses the role that linguists can play in bringing these false beliefs to light, and in advocating for reform to legal processes for admission and use of covert recordings.