Introduction Audio-visual recordings (AVRs) of police interviews not only ensure the protection of those being interviewed, but also guard the police against false accusations of mistreatment or coercion. They also have the benefit of strengthening any evidence of admissions or confessions made while in police custody. An AVR is the best evidence of what happened during the course of an interview. It is an objective record of events in which body language, tone of voice and demeanour can all be assessed by an independent third party.1 AVR also contributes to transparency, which in turn improves public trust in the police and ultimately leads to lasting changes in police behaviour as regards questioning techniques and procedures. This is crucial in criminal justice systems where coercive or deceptive questioning techniques aimed at obtaining confessions are still used, despite the growing consensus that these lead to false confessions and miscarriages of justice.2 In fact, AVR supports the shift in the focus of interviews away from confessions towards interview techniques which seek to determine what actually happened and thus becomes an important safeguard against the contamination of interviews and the risk of false confessions. AVRs could also be used to improve professionalism in policing and for training of police officers. AVR can shed light for researchers on policing.3 When compliance with rights guaranteed by the EU procedural rights Directives4 is challenged, it is difficult to determine what actually happened during interviews that took place behind closed doors.5 AVR has the potential to ensure the effective application of other rights and can make the process sufficiently transparent to enable suspected persons to efficiently challenge procedural rights violations.6 1. Organisations such as the Innocence Project have documented the importance of AVRs in guarding against wrongful convictions obtained on the basis of false confessions. The Innocence Project, ‘False Confessions & Recording Of Custodial Interrogations’ <https://innocenceproject.org/false-confessions-recording-interrogations/> accessed on 5 December 2022. 2. ibid. 3. Principles on Effective Interviewing for Investigations and Information Gathering, May 2021, § 160 <https://interviewingprinciples.com>. 4. Directive 2010/64/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 on the right to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings, OJ L 280, 26.10.2010, 1 (Directive on the right to interpretation and translation);Directive 2012/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council 22 May 2012 on the right to information in criminal proceedings, OJ L 142, 1.6.2012, 1 (Directive on the right to information); Directive 2013/48/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2013 on the right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings and in European arrest warrant proceedings, and on the right to have a third party informed upon deprivation of liberty and to communicate with third persons and with consular authorities while deprived of liberty, OJ L 294, 6.11.2013, 1 (Directive on access to a lawyer); Directive (EU) 2016/343 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 on the strengthening of certain aspects of the presumption of innocence and of the right to be present at the trial in criminal proceedings, OJ L 65, 11.3.2016, 1 (Directive on the presumption of innocence); Directive (EU) 2016/800 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on procedural safeguards for children who are suspects or accused persons in criminal proceedings, OJ L 132, 21.5.2016, 1 (Directive on procedural safeguards for children); Directive (EU) 2016/1919 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2016 on legal aid for suspects and accused persons in criminal proceedings and for requested persons in European arrest warrant proceedings, OJ L 297, 4.11.2016, 1 (Directive on legal aid). 5. Fair Trials, ‘PROCAM International Desk Report, audio-visual recording during interrogations’ (2018), p. 4, <https://www.fairtrials.org/articles/ publications/audiovisual-recordings-during-interrogations/>. 6. Justicia Network, ‘Inside Police Custody 2’, (2018), p. 58, <https://www.fairtrials.org/articles/publications/inside-police-custody-2/>. 8 In particular, it can help ensure that: • suspected persons are correctly informed about their rights in a clear and accessible manner at the beginning of the interview, especially about the right to be assisted by a lawyer, information that is not always correctly conveyed by investigative authorities in practice;7 • quality interpretation services are provided during the interview;8 • undue coercion, torture and other ill treatment during questioning are prevented;9 • investigation of any allegations of procedural violations or illtreatment are facilitated, which is in the mutual interest of the interviewer and the interviewee.10 7. Thus protecting the rights enshrined in the Directive on the right to information. EU Agency for fundamental rights (FRA), ‘Rights in practice: access to a lawyer and procedural rights in criminal and European arrest warrant proceedings’, p. 40-44, 8. Thus protecting the rights enshrined in the Directive on the right to interpretation and translation. Justicia Network, ‘Inside Police Custody 2’, (2018), p. 40, <https://www.fairtrials.org/articles/publications/inside-police-custody-2/>. 9. Thus protecting the rights enshrined in the UN Convention against Torture. Fair Trials, ‘PROCAM International Desk Report, audio-visual recording during interrogations’ (2018), p. 4, <https://www.fairtrials.org/articles/publications/audiovisual-recordings-during-interrogations/>; SRT (Mendez) ‘Interim Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment’ (2016) A/71/298, § 84 [hereinafter: SRT (Mendez) A/71/298]; ECtHR, Doyle v Ireland, App No 51979/17, § 99; CPT, 12th General Report, CPT/Inf (2002)15, § 36, https://rm.coe.int/1680696a76 ; see also Fair Trials and Hungarian Helsinki Committee, ‘Meeting report – Experience-sharing Event on Audio-visual Recording of Interrogations in Criminal Proceedings’, 9 November 2018. 10. Principles on Effective Interviewing for Investigations and Information Gathering, May 2021, § 177 <https://interviewingprinciples.com>. 9