Identification Parades: the Evidentiary Value & the Credibility of the Witness in Identifying Suspects for Criminal Investigations in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The term Identification does not only refer to Fingerprint Identification but also to voice identification, footprint identification and identification parades (Rajamanickam and Kung, 2017). However, the present paper focuses only on identification parades. A O L’ D, the term Identification Parade , , O L’ D, I criminal investigation tool to catch the real perpetrator. When a person is suspected of committing a particular crime, that person is directed to an identification parade. In an identification parade, there is a line of people including the suspect who stands next to each other while the witness tries to recognize the person who has actually committed the crime. The research problem of this study is whether the evidence provided by the witness in an identification parade is actually accurate, or is there any credibility of the evidence provided by the witness in an identification parade. Also, the study explores the research question, does such evidence actually assist criminal investigations? This is an important question especially in the context of reported misidentifications in many jurisdictions at such identification parades. Therefore, this paper focuses on the evidentiary value of identification parades as it is one of the vital criminal tools in criminal investigations to catch the real offender. Also, it will elaborate on the procedure of identification parades conducted in Sri Lanka in order to make the public more enlightened on this subject. Further, the credibility of the witness on the identification of suspects in the eyes of the court will be discussed. This research was conducted through black letter approach and the critical analysis method. Also, the qualitative research method was used. Data were collected through primary and secondary sources. Primary sources consisted of national laws of Sri Lanka, and the secondary sources were the published books, e-journals, and e-books. One recommendation brought out by the study is that the police must be trained to use new techniques and should not contaminate the evidence obtained from IDPs. Also, updated information and knowledge about the proceedings must be given to the law enforcement officers. Additionally, government too has a responsibility to give facilities when conducting IDPs.