Towards the principle of believability: A new socio-pragmatic model in forensic settings

Abstract

With such a background, the researcher conducted a study on the conviction rate in Malawi. The researcher first got ethical approval from the Registrar of the High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal. It was a two-tier study.Firstly, the researcher went through a total of 122 files of concluded criminal trials registered from May 2016 to June 2019 in Lilongwe and Mzuzu High court registries. Of the cases, 84 were homicide trials which had entered the court for the first time, while the rest (38) were appeal cases from lower courts. Appeal cases were of different types, ranging from defilement, rape, armed robbery, theft by servant and burglary. In these cases, it was discovered that 64 (52.5%) were acquittals and 58 (47.5%) were convictions. Most acquittals were registered in homicide and sexual assault cases where, according to the judgement reports, the Prosecution failed to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt. The statistics on convictions (47.5%) are very low compared to figures registered in advanced countries. For instance, in 2015, the conviction rate in China was pegged at 99.9 percent, while the conviction rate in the United States (US) was around 90 percent (Liao, 2018). These statistics are extremely high and, among other reasons, indicate how strong and sophisticated the prosecution system is in these developed countries.To supplement these observations made at the desk research phase, the researcher decided to observe exactly what occurs in Malawian criminal courtrooms. He then randomly observed 17 live cases in the Mzuzu High Court registry and Nkhatabay First Grade Magistrates' Court, Kasungu Senior Resident Magistrates' Court and Lilongwe Senior Resident Magistrates' Court to appreciate how prosecutors advance their stories. This phase occurred for a period of four months, from August to December 2019. It was observed that the Prosecution struggled to prove their side of the case beyond reasonable doubt, chiefly because they brought in weak witnesses who lacked the ability to control the amount of information to tell in court. Some witnesses also provided overt and plain responses, which showed that they were unaware of the implications of their answers to particular questions. Some responses from the witnesses gave an indication that they were not conversant with the basic court procedure when testifying, or that they were not thoroughly prepared before coming to court.The outcome of the study is a pointer to some of the problems that the Prosecution system in Malawi faces, which eventually leads to the Prosecution losing cases brought to the courts. This likely lowers people's perception of the entire justice system and its fairness. The Principle of Believability (PB) developed in this chapter can help address such problems faced by prosecution in developing countries such as Malawi. By 'believability' , we refer to the extent to which others can accept a narrative as truthful and credible. The model developed can also help different parties in a dispute in how best to pursue their goals for...