webinar
The Mendez Principles and Rapport-Based Interviewing
- Presented by Ray Bull, member of the UN committee responsible for drawing up the Mendez Principles.
- Provides an overview of the move toward rapport-based interviewing, grounded in science, law and ethics.
- 1 hour on-demand webinar
- $60 AUD, instant access
Course overview
The Mendez Principles and Rapport-Based Interviewing
Following on from a call in 2016 by UN Special Rapporteur Juan E. Mendez for a ‘universal protocol’ on standards for non-coercive interviewing methods, new Principles for Effective Interviewing were developed and published. Webinar presenter Ray Bull was a member of the committee which drew up the Mendez Principles and in this session discusses the reasoning behind them, the standards they set, and benefits of rapport-based interviewing.
2016 the United Nation’s ‘Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’ submitted his report that was then transmitted by the UN Secretary-General to the UN General Assembly. In this report its summary stated that:
“The Special Rapporteur…advocates the development of a universal protocol identifying a set of standards for non-coercive interviewing methods and procedural safeguards that ought, as a matter of law and policy, to be applied at a minimum to all interviews by law enforcement officials, military and intelligence personnel and other bodies with investigative mandates.”
When mentioning this “universal protocol” the UN Special Rapporteur noted that “…some States have moved away from accusatorial, manipulative and confession-driven interviewing models with a view to increasing accurate and reliable information and minimizing the risks of unreliable information…” and that
“The essence of an alternative information-gathering model was first captured by the PEACE model of interviewing adopted in 1992 in England…investigative interviewing can provide positive guidance for the protocol…”.
This presentation briefly outlines the evolution of the 2021 extensive document arising from this call for a “universal protocol” before more fully describing its guidance about interviewing.
This session was originally presented during the MyKludo Virtual Investigations Conference held 6-8 December 2021.
Presenter
Professor Ray Bull
Ray Bull is a British psychologist and Professor of Criminal Investigation (part-time) at the University of Derby.
Ray has made an incredible contribution to the field of investigations. In 2008 Ray received the Award for Lifetime Contribution to Psychology and Law from the European Association of Psychology and. This was followed in 2009 with the ‘Senior Academic Award from the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group for his significant lifetime contribution to the field of investigative interviewing. And in 2010 Ray was “Elected by acclaim” an Honorary Fellow of the British Psychological Society, an honour restricted to a maximum of 40 living psychologists. From 2014-2017 he was president of the European Association of Psychology and Law.
Ray has authored or co-authored over 240 research publications and has advised a large number of police forces in a great variety of countries on investigative interviewing, as well as testifying as an expert witness in many court cases.