Evidence Act to be amended to allow police lineups

An amendment has been proposed to the Evidence Act to allow police lineups to identify suspects.

The Attorney General's Office has submitted a bill to parliament proposing multiple changes to the Evidence Act, which was ratified in 2022. This includes the addition of a new chapter. 

The proposed chapter is titled 'Identification Evidence', under which four types of evidence will be accepted in court. These are:

- Evidence from police lineups

- Evidence from photo lineups

- Evidence gained through showing video recordings

- Evidence gained through listening to audio recordings

The proposed article states that these four types of evidence can be accepted in court to prove the involvement of a suspect in a criminal offence, or of an accused in a witness testimony. 

A police lineup is a method used to help the victim or a witness of a crime to identify suspects from amongst a line up of a group of individuals with similar physical traits.

Under the amendment, police lineup based evidence is admissible in court in three specific instances, provided it is free from suggestive influence. These three instances are:

1. A witness who has accused a specific individual of a crime identifies that person from a police lineup that includes the accused. 

2. The situation being appropriate to hold a police lineup. 

3. The accused or person noted in a witness statement not having refused to participate in a police lineup. 

The bill states that if a police lineup is not essential to ensuring justice between the accused and the accuser, it should not be admitted in trial. 

The bill further states that courts must consider the nature and severity of the crime, along with the evidentiary value when determining the necessity of a police lineup. 

Additionally, if the accused refuses to participate in a police lineup, the reasons for non-cooperation and the timing of the lineup relative to the crime must be taken into account. 

The bill also includes guidelines on using a photo lineup instead of a police lineup.

Photos generated through computer programs can be used in photo lineups.