An examination of criminal jury directions in relation to eyewitness identification in Commonwealth jurisdictions

This paper presents an analytical review of judicial directions to guard against wrongful convictions based upon erroneous eyewitness identification evidence. Factors known as the Turnbull Rules, derived from the English case R v Turnbull, are of significance within many common law jurisdictions when considering the accuracy of eyewitness identifications and the practice of jury directions or mandatory warnings. The influence of these rules, together with variations in the approach taken by Commonwealth jurisdictions, illustrates that while the factors identified in Turnbull are to be found in the approaches adopted across the various jurisdictions studied, there is diversity in terms of whether or not such directions are mandatory and also as to their form and scope.