Eyewitness credibility assessments in criminal proceedings: how much psychology is there in a legal task?

StatusVoR
Dublin Core metadata
Alternative title
Ocena wiarygodności zeznań naocznych świadków w postępowaniu karnym: jak wiele jest psychologii w ocenie prawnej?
Authors
Kabzińska, Joanna
Szafrańska, Michalina
Jastrzębska, Marcelina
Monograph
Monograph (alternative title)
Date
2025-06-04
Publisher
Journal title
Problems of Forensic Sciences
Issue
Volume
140
Pages
Pages
311-333
DOI
ISSN
1230-7483
ISSN of series
Weblink
https://ejournals.eu/czasopismo/problems-of-forensic-sciences/artykul/eyewitness-credibility-assessments-in-criminal-proceedings-how-much-psychology-is-there-in-a-legal-task
Access date
2025-06-04
Abstract PL
Abstract EN
This study aimed to investigate the legal credibility assessment of eyewitness testimonies in criminal proceedings, with particular attention to the criteria used by courts to assess eyewitness credibility and the factors that influence the number of criteria in the assessment. It also investigated whether judicial credibility assessment is subject to bias. We conducted a case record analysis of criminal cases (N = 381), wherein a total of 3210 eyewitnesses were interviewed at trial. The analysis revealed that legal credibility assessment seems superficial – courts evoke a small number of criteria to justify their judgments and tend to cite only a few despite individual differences in testimonies and eyewitnesses. The legal assessment of eyewitness credibility is influenced by numerous procedural and individual (for the eyewitnesses) factors; our analysis showed that this is subject to certain biases. The practical implications of these results are discussed along with avenues for future research.
Abstract other
Keywords PL
Keywords EN
Eyewitness credibility assessment
Eyewitness credibility
Eyewitness testimony
Keywords other
Exhibition title
Place of exhibition (institution)
Exhibition curator
URI
https://share.swps.edu.pl/handle/swps/1789
Type
License type
cc-by-nc-nd
Except as otherwise noted, this item is licensed under the Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence | Permitted use of copyrighted works
Funder
Time range from
Time range to
Contact person name
Related publication
Related publication
Grant/project name
Rola psychologii w procesie podejmowania decyzji przez zawodowych uczestników postępowania karnego
Files
pdf
Eyewitness credibility assessments in criminal proceedings: how much psychology is there in a legal task?.pdf(431.56 KB)
Download
Views
Views7
Acquisition Date17.09.2025
Downloads
Downloads2
Acquisition Date17.09.2025
Altmetrics©
Dimensions
Google Scholar
Google Scholar