Summary

As the law is rather vague on the requirements for presenting an individual for identification in a line-up, this article will focus on the relevant requirements to be followed with regard to the manner of presenting an individual for identification in a line-up, and in the preparation and presentation of an individual for identification in a line-up. These requirements are important because a failure to comply with them may render the result of the submission for identification in a line-up unreliable or untrustworthy.

In general, repetition of the presentation for identification in a line-up is unnecessary, as only the first result of the presentation for identification in a line-up will normally be taken into account as evidence. The question posed by the prosecutor to a witness during the examination of the evidence, as to whether he or she recognises the perpetrator of the offence in the accused or whether the perpetrator is present in the courtroom, is irrelevant. It is the submission of a repeat and individual identification in a line-up.

Case law could be shaped in such a way that the court could rely on the fact of identification in a line-up as recorded in the report of an identification line-up, even if the witness’s testimony in court on cross-examination as to the characteristics of recognition diametrically contradicts the testimony given in the pre-trial investigation. Thus, statements made during pre-trial proceedings in connection with the submission of testimony regarding an identification line-up could also be considered reliable. In order to safeguard the report of an identification line-up as evidence, the defence counsel could be given the opportunity to review the report of an identification line-up during pre-trial proceedings and then to question the witness or the injured party about the circumstances surrounding the identification line-up. The questions of the defence counsel and the responses of the witness could be entered in the report of an identification line-up.