问答题 Recent legal research indicates that incorrect identification is a major factor in many miscarriages of justice. 46)It also suggests that identification of people by witnesses in a courtroom is not as reliable as commonly believed. Recent studies do not support the degree of faith judges, jurors, lawyers and the police have in eyewitness evidence.
The Law Commission recently published an educational paper, " Total Recall? The Reliability, of Witness Testimony', as a companion guide to a proposed code of evidence. The paper finds that commonly held perceptions about how our minds work and how well we remember are often wrong. But while human memory is fragile and subject to change, it should not be underestimated.
Both common sense and research say memory declines over time. The accuracy of recall and recognition are at their best immediately after encoding the information, declining at first rapidly, then gradually. 47) The longer the delay, the more likely it is that information obtained after the event will interfere with the original memory, which reduces accuracy.
The paper says subsequent interviews or media reports can create such distortions. "People are particularly susceptible to having their memories modified when the passage of time allows the original memory to fade, and will be most susceptible if they repeat the misinformation as fact. "
48) Witnesses may see or read information after the event, then integrate it to produce something other than what was experienced, significantly reducing the reliability of their memory of an event or offender. "Further, witnesses may strongly believe in their memories, even though aspects of those memories are verifiably false. "
The paper says it is generally agreed that the memories of adults and children are fallible. Nevertheless, even preschoolers can form reliable memories. Young children depend on context to promote memory, and spontaneously report less. Children may recall more information with adequate support, but the type of support and questioning is critical. Methods of drawing out information have to be carefully monitored.
Although research shows the accuracy of both adults and children can be affected by leading or suggestive questions, the ability to resist the influence of external suggestion increases with age.
49) Children may change their account of an event, not because their memory has altered but because they wish to comply with the suggestion of an adult in authority, or because they interpret repeated questioning as an indication their first response is .judged wrong.
50) The paper says further research is required into interview techniques and conditions under which false memories and reports of abuse are most likely to arise. It seems that deciding whether any memory is to be finally assessed as reliable or the treacherous ally of invention will largely remain a challenge for judges and juries.