Admission and confession (guide + case laws)

This post covers everything you need to know about admission and confession in criminal law.

Admission and confession are among the important issues in criminal liability.

Here you will learn

• what is admission
• what is a confession
  • Types of confession
  • Retracted confession
  • Repudiated confession
• Difference between admission and confession
• Admissions and confessions case laws
• etc.

Let’s get started

What is admission?

Black’s Law Dictionary, defines admission as a voluntary acknowledgment made by a party of the existence of certain facts that are inconsistent with his claim in an action.

For example, when a person is charged with theft he may admit the loss of the property termed to be stolen.

However a court can not convict that person solely based on his admission, there must be sufficient proof that he is the one who stole the property.

An admission may be expressed verbally or in writing.

Also, an admission made by an authorized representative of a party to litigation may occasionally be admitted into evidence and attributed to that party.

What is a confession?

A confession within the context of criminal law is a statement, oral or written which admits all the essential elements or ingredients of the offense.

In other words, a confession is a direct acknowledgment of guilt by the accused. Here an accused person is voluntary and directly saying yes I’m guilty.

In confession, an admission of one or only some of the ingredients of the offense is not sufficient.

Types of confession

Confession may be retracted or repudiated.

Retracted confession

Retracted confession occurs when the accused, having made a confession later at his trial retracts it, usually by maintaining that it was not true, or the confusion has been procured from him as the result of ill-treatment or the threat of ill-treatment

Repudiated confession

Repudiated confession occurs when the accused maintains that he never made the confession at all, or that the record, probably through faulty translation does not represent what he actually said.

Generally retracted confession must be corroborated (supported by other evidence). The court can rely on it after being satisfied that it is true.

Further, confession is not automatically inadmissible simply because it resulted from threats or promise

Difference between admission and confession

The main difference between confession and admission is that confession refers to a direct acknowledgment of guilt by the person who has been accused of committing a crime. On the other hand, admission, while also being a voluntary statement, is merely the acknowledgment that a particular fact is true.

From our first example, when a person is charged with theft and states that he acknowledges the loss of the property termed to be stolen that is admission but when that person states that he admits the loss of the property and he is the one who maliciously took it, that is a confession

For more differences see the following table;

CONFESSION	ADMISSION
acknowledgment of guilt	acknowledgment of fact
Must be made by accused	May be made by Any party to the proceedings or their agent or even by a third party
Apply only in a criminal case	Applying both, criminal and civil case
Conclusive	Need to be supported by other evidence
Can be retracted	Cannot be retracted

Admissions and confessions case laws

The following cases demonstrate the implications of admissions and confessions in criminal cases.

SIMON KILOWOKO v REPUBLIC 1989 TLR 159 (HC)

Facts

In an appeal against a conviction for theft the appellate judge found that the appellant had admitted that there may have been a loss of money, but there was no sufficient proof that he stole the money.

Held

The admission that there may have been loss does not amount to admission to having stolen the money.

The prosecution has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the appellant committed the offense charged.

MATHEI FIDOLINE HAULE v REPUBLIC 1992 TLR 148 (CA)

Facts

The appellant assaulted his mother whom he believed to be a witch.

In convicting the appellant the trial judge relied on two pieces of evidence.

The first was a statement the appellant made to his village chairperson that he had assaulted his mother.

The second was a cautioned statement alleged to have been made by the appellant before a police officer who at the time of the trial was reported dead.

The trial judge treated both pieces of evidence as a confession.

Held

The mere admission by the appellant that he had assaulted his mother could not really be taken to amount to a confession to the offense of murder with all its essential ingredients, especially as at the time the appellant was making the admission the victim was still alive and receiving treatment at the hospital;

Confession cases

HEMED ABDALLAH v REPUBLIC 1995 TLR 172 (CA)

Theme: retracted confession must be corroborated. The court can rely on it after being satisfied that it is true.

Facts

The High Court convicted the appellant of murder on the basis of his retracted confession. Before convicting the court warned itself of the danger of basing the conviction on an uncorroborated retracted confession. On appeal, the appellant argued that the trial court’s conviction should be faulted because the learned Trial Judge did not give reasons why he relied on the uncorroborated confession.

Held

Generally, it is dangerous to act upon a repudiated or retracted confession unless it is corroborated in material particulars or unless the court, after full consideration of the circumstances, is satisfied that the confession must but be true;