51Âþ»­

An international project to improve the way in which suspects are interviewed and end unethical interrogations now has more than 200 members from 48 different countries.

– led by 51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­)’s Professor Dave Walsh - has gone from strength to strength since it was first launched in October 2023.

Its aim is to support the implementation of the Mendez Principles, a set of guidelines supported by the United Nations to ensure effective interviewing and prevent ill-treatment and forced confessions around the world. The principles were named after the former UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Mendez, who convened a team of international experts that drew from law, forensic psychology and criminology in creating the guide.

Some of the research team pictured at a recent meeting

The ImpleMéndez Action team are made up of academic researchers, practitioners, civil society partners such as NGOs and police, and policy makers.

“The interest in this work has been absolutely astonishing,” said Professor Walsh. “We did not realise when we set it up just how keen people have been to be involved.

“Mendez’s work is so important. We know from the literature and actual cases that law enforcement agencies in many countries do not know about the investigative interviewing approach. People often assume guilt and try to get confessions relying on psychological manipulation, intimidation or physical torture, and can lead to miscarriages of justice and failed investigations.

“By the end of July, we will be looking to support around 20 distinct projects and the great thing is that a lot of these people will never have met each other if it hadn’t been for the project, even though they work in the same field. Some great friendships have been made and collaborative work started.”

Furthermore, the team have set out their plan to improve training and awareness of ethical interviewing around the world, and creating Mendez Centres of Investigative Interviewing, which act as virtual resource centres and hubs for people to come together, learn new techniques and share best practice. The fist two of these will come online during mid-September in Oslo and Dublin.

The ImpleMéndez project also aims to develop models of investigative interviewing to accommodate different contexts and cultures around the world, co-created with practitioners in the field that continue to observe the Mendez Principles.

Capacity building skills and tools will also be developed for investigators, defence and prosecution lawyers as well as judges, to help them undertake their roles more professionally, while increasing their awareness and understanding of the Mendez Principles and ethical interviewing.

ImpleMéndez grew from work conducted last year by Professor Walsh who visited police forces, policymakers and universities around Europe to see how commonly that Mendez Principles were being used.

It is funded by COST, the European Cooperation in Science and Technology, which seeks to help researchers grow their ideas collaboratively through peer networks and innovation.