Confession - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition confession

Definition :

Confession, a statement in order to amount to a 'confession' must either admit in terms the offence, or at any rate substantially all the facts which constitute the offence. An admission of an incriminating fact, howsoever grave, is not by

itself a confession. A statement which contains an exculpatory assertion of some fact, which if true, would negative the offence alleged cannot amount to a confession, Veera Ibrahim v. State of Maharashtra, (1976) 2 SCC 302: AIR 1976 SC 1167 (1171): (1967) 3 SCR 672. [Evidence Act (1 of 1987), s. 24]

'Confession' in common acceptation means and implies acknowledgment of guilt--its evidentiary value and its acceptability however shall have to be assessed by the Court having due regard to the credibility of the witnesses. In the event, however, the Court is otherwise in a position having due regard to the attending circumstances believes the witness before whom the confession is made and is otherwise satisfied that the confession is in fact voluntary and without there being any doubt in regard thereto, an order of conviction can be founded on such evidence, State of Punjab v. Gurdeep Singh, (1999) 7 SCC 714: AIR 1999 SC 3724 (3725). (Evidence Act, 1872, s. 24)

'Confession', has either to be an express acknowledgment of guilt of the offence charged or it must admit substantially all the facts which constitute the offence. Conviction on 'Confession' is based on the Maxim 'habemus optimum testem canfitentem renum' which means that confession of an accused is the best evidence against him. The rationale behind this rule is that an ordinary, normal and sane person would not make a statement which would incriminate him unless urged by the promptings of truth and conscience, Sahib Singh v. State of Haryana, (1997) 7 SCC 231: AIR 1997 SC 3247 (3254). [Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention), Act, 1987, s. 15]

The word 'confession' as used in the Evidence Act cannot be construed as meaning a statement by an accused suggesting the inference that he committed the crime. A confession must either admit in terms the offence, or at any rate substantially all the facts which constitute the offence. An admission of a gravely incriminating fact, even a conclusively incriminating fact is not of itself a confession. A statement that contains self- exculpatory matter cannot amount to a confession, if the exculpatory statement is of some fact, which if true, would negative the offence alleged to be confessed, Palvinder Kaur v. State of Punjab, AIR 1952 SC 354 (357). (Evidence Act, 1872, s. 24)

The confession is a form of admission consisting of direct acknowledgment of guilt in a criminal charge. It must be in express words by the accused in a criminal case of the truth of the guilt fact charged or some essential part of it and a statement that contains a self-exculpatory matter cannot amount to a confession. The confession should be a voluntary one, that means not caused by inducement, threat or promise. Whether a confession is voluntary or not is essentially a question of fact, Shankar v. State of Tamil Nadu, (1994) 4 SCC 478 (503): 1994 SCC (Cri) 1552. [Evidence Act, 1872, s. 24]

Includes any statement wholly or partly adverse to the person who made it, whether made to a person in authority or not and whether made in words or otherwise, R. v. Z [HL(E)], (2005) 2 AC LR 467 [Police Criminal Evidence Act, 1984, s. 82(1) (UK)]

Would mean incriminating statement made to the police suggesting inference of the commission of the crime and it, therefore, is confined to the evidence to be adduced in a court of law, Commr. of Police v. Narender Singh, (2006) 4 SCC 265.

A confession or admission is evidence against its maker, if its admissibility is not excluded by some provision of law, Nazir Khan v. State of Delhi, (2003) 8 SCC 461.

Includes a statement intended by the maker to be exculpatory or neutral and which appears to be so on its face, but which becomes damaging to him at the trial because, for example, its contents can then be shown to be evasive or false or inconsistent with the maker's evidence on oath, Regina v. Z., (2005) 2 WLR 709 (Police and Criminal Evidence Act, 1984, s. 76).

Only voluntary and direct acknowledgement of guilt is a confession, Central Bureau of Investigation v. V.C. Shukla, (1998) 3 SCC 410.

Should be regarding as anything which turns out to be in fact self-incriminating even if at the time the remarks were made they were intended to be exculpatory, Regina v. Z, (2003) 1 WLR 1489.

Confession, would mean incriminating statement made to police suggesting inference of the commission of the crime and it therefore is confined to evidence to be adduced in a court of law, Commissioner of Police v. Narender Singh, AIR 2006 SC 1800 [Evidence Act, 1872, s. 25 & 26]