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Audiovisual Interrogation – Video Questioning of Witnesses and Suspects
Comprehensive solution for legally compliant audiovisual interrogation and documentation to protect all parties involved with Mangold's mobile recording technology
The solution for protecting all parties involved in legally compliant audiovisual interrogation and documentation.
Advantages of Audiovisual Interrogation
Through the reproducibility of audiovisual interrogation, repeated questioning can be avoided and all parties involved can be protected by demonstrating legal compliance.
Likewise, the duration of proceedings or trials can be reduced to a minimum.
Audiovisual interrogation documentation changes the nature and form of evidence interpretation possibilities and represents a technical breakthrough with regard to the digitization of criminal proceedings.
While the written interrogation protocol essentially only reproduces the wording of questions and answers, audiovisual interrogation is referred to as a “comprehensive documentation of reality”.
With details such as the tone of voice of those involved, interrogation duration, facial expressions and gestures, the interrogation situation is made repeatable in video documentation.
Note
The following citations from the German law serve only to illustrate exemplary requirements for the application of video interrogation. The reference to laws and regulations is made according to personal assessment and does not constitute legal advice in any way. This is exclusively reserved for recognized legal professionals. Legal changes or other circumstances may also render the content described here invalid.
Advantages of Video Interrogation of Suspects
With the entry into force of § 136 Para. 4 StPO on January 1, 2020, the legislature created the basis for video interrogation of suspects to be carried out to a greater extent.
This results in the following advantages:
- The legal reasoning points out that a conventional written protocol can be subjectively filtered by the author, while video recording authentically reproduces the course of the interrogation.
- In addition, audiovisual documentation protects suspects and witnesses from improper or illegal interrogation.
- Video documentation also protects interrogation officers and other participants, as it provides secure proof of the correct procedure of everyone present.
- The recordings can also be advantageous for later main proceedings to prove whether statements were made or not made.
Advantages of Video Interrogation of Witnesses
With the legal possibility of video interrogation, improvements in witness protection and victim protection arise in criminal proceedings interrogations.
This results in the following advantages:
- There is no encounter with suspects.
- Often particularly stressful repeated interrogations can be avoided.
- Timely and conclusive interrogation in the investigation procedure is easier to achieve.
- There are possibilities for inclusion of therapeutic support.
- A less stressful atmosphere for witnesses can be created than would be possible in the courtroom.
Disadvantages of Audiovisual Interrogation
The interference with general personality rights can be considered a disadvantage of audiovisual interrogation. However, the legislature considers comprehensive and accurate truth-finding in the interest of suspects and victims to be more important. To still do justice to personality rights, such recordings are made on particularly secure systems that are intended to prevent unlawful use of the data.
Mangold’s Mobile Recording Technology
Simple, Intuitive, Interference-Free
Video interrogations are sensitive processes that must be free from distraction and interference.
Simple setup, intuitive operation, and technical interference-free operation are essential aspects for a purposeful interrogation result.
The portable audiovisual interrogation system from Mangold is a mobile system solution with which video interrogations can be carried out in compliance with legal requirements even outside special interrogation rooms.
For example, urgent initial interrogations in the context of pursuit or search can be documented on-site in a court-admissible manner in word and image.
- All components of Mangold’s mobile interrogation system are contained in a stable, easily transportable rolling case and can be set up and ready for use in a short time.
- The audiovisual recordings require no specialist knowledge and can be created by a single person.
- Modern, interference-free microphone and camera technology as well as the proven and forward-looking software application Mangold VideoSyncPro Studio are specifically designed for these requirements.
Audiovisual Interrogation of Suspects
Legal Aspects
Through the “Act for More Effective and Practical Design of Criminal Proceedings” of August 17, 2017, the new provision was introduced two years later on January 1, 2020. § 136 StPO was then supplemented by a fourth paragraph containing the new regulation on audiovisual interrogation of suspects.
Although audiovisual recording of judicial, prosecutorial, or police interrogations of suspects was previously possible, the new regulation of the former “may provision” with § 136 Para. 4 Sentence 2 StPO includes the obligation to record when:
- the investigation procedure is based on an intentionally committed homicide and neither external circumstances nor the particular urgency of the interrogation oppose the recording,
- when it serves the better protection of the legitimate interests of suspects.
Police, Prosecutorial, Judicial Interrogation
The documentation of audiovisual interrogation of suspects by police, prosecution, or judges is intended to serve both the improvement of truth-finding and the protection of suspects from improper or illegal interrogation methods.
Requirements-Appropriate Design of a Mangold Video Interrogation System
A Mangold video interrogation system addresses the following important requirements in particular:
- High-quality wide-angle camera optics properly capture the interrogation officers, the person being interrogated, any authorized accompanying persons, and the rest of the room. The recording thus also provides proof that no hidden influence on the person being interrogated took place during the interrogation and that no other persons were present in the room.
- The optimized audio technology takes into account changing volume levels of suspects and witnesses as well as often quiet and unclear statements from those being interrogated. The microphone characteristics are also optimized for varying speech direction, as can occur through head and body movements.
- Even during longer recordings, the synchronous recording between audio and video tracks in the video streams is considered by the forward-looking software application Mangold VideoSyncPro.
Audiovisual Interrogation of Witnesses
Legal Aspects
The Witness Protection Act that came into force on December 1, 1998, opens up with the provisions of §§ 58a, 247a, and 255a of the Code of Criminal Procedure (StPO) the video recording of witness interrogations within and outside the main proceedings.
If there is urgent danger of serious disadvantage to the witness’s welfare if he is interrogated in the presence of those present in the main proceedings, the court can order a video interrogation. Tolerance of the audio-video recording is part of the witness obligation, for which no special consent from the persons to be interrogated is required.
Recording should be considered particularly in cases where a decision-relevant statement is extensive, involves a complex crime, or the interrogation is particularly difficult.
The conditions under which a witness’s interrogation can or should be recorded on audio-video media are regulated by § 58a Para. 1 Sentences 1 and 2 StPO.
Video Interrogation with the Mangold Video Interrogation System
The modern video interrogation system from Mangold with its innovative software application VideoSyncPro Studio is also ideally suited for complex interrogations. Extensive statements and difficult interrogations can be commented on in the recording software with text annotations and symbolic markings for better understanding.
Particularly with regard to the protection worthiness of witnesses and victims, the Mangold video interrogation system offers various possibilities to do justice to this. Among other things, confrontations with suspects can be avoided and the identity protection of particularly endangered witnesses can be guaranteed.
Audiovisual Interrogation of Children
Legal Aspects
§ 58a of the Code of Criminal Procedure indicates that the interrogation of children and adolescents under 18 years of age should be conducted as audio-video recording to serve their legitimate interests.
Thus, the interrogation in the main proceedings can be replaced by showing the investigative judicial witness interrogation already recorded in the investigation procedure.
Statements from sexually abused children must be recorded, provided the crime is not linked to the use of video technology and thus video recording would represent a particular burden for the affected victims and witnesses.
In witness interrogation of minors, parents as legal representatives have a right to be present during interrogations. However, in consultation with the legal guardians, a sole interrogation can take place to avoid any influence.
Special Requirements for Interrogating Child Witnesses
The interrogation of children as witnesses or even child victims is a particular challenge that requires not only professional know-how from interrogation officers but also particularly sensitive implementation.
- Audiovisual interrogation of children using Mangold’s mobile video interrogation system offers the possibility to keep contact with police, prosecution, and courts to a minimum.
- Through video interrogation, the child is neither during the interrogation nor elsewhere in the investigation or court proceedings exposed to personal confrontation with the perpetrator.
- The portable technology also supports the acceleration requirement (§ 48a Para. 2 StPO, No. 221 RiStBV) by enabling spontaneous recordings at suitable locations. Thus, it contributes to keeping the procedure or trial duration as short as possible and avoiding repeated questioning.
- The technology enables creating a more relaxed atmosphere, e.g., through interrogations in the presence of parents in their own home environment.
- The room-wide camera and microphone technology also enables children to have largely child-appropriate freedom of movement during the interrogation.
Audiovisual Interrogation of Victims
Legal Aspects
The introduction of audiovisual interrogation in 1998 with § 58a StPO primarily served victim protection; in particular, victims of crimes should be spared repeated interrogations. Subsequently, there was a successive expansion of the scope of application of audio-video recording, primarily to strengthen the position of child, adolescent, or other particularly endangered victim witnesses in criminal proceedings.
Thus, the last expansion of the provision of § 58a StPO through the Act to Strengthen the Rights of Victims of Sexual Abuse was justified by the legislature, among other things, in that the willingness to confess of the accused would be increased by the existence of an audio-video recording of the victim witness interrogation.
Special Requirements for Interrogating Victims
According to expert opinion, a victim’s statement is more authentically recorded through video recording than a report could ever be. Through exact documentation, better truth-finding is attributed to it in the interrogation of victims of sexual violence. The recordings can in turn be used in the context of psychological assessment.
Mangold Video Interrogation System: Unobtrusive, Restrained
The restrained, unobtrusive video and audio technology of a Mangold interrogation system with its simple operation enables distraction-free, empathetic interrogation. It requires no additional technical personnel whose presence could be perceived as disturbing or even upsetting.
Investigative Judicial Video Interrogation
Legal Aspects
With the Act to Modernize Criminal Proceedings of December 10, 2019, § 58a Paragraph 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure regulates the recording of interrogation by investigative judges.
Thus, the interrogation of a witness can be recorded on audio-video media, but witness interrogation should be recorded after consideration of the respective relevant circumstances and carried out as judicial interrogation,
- if the legitimate interests of persons under 18 years of age as well as persons who were injured as children or adolescents by one of the crimes mentioned in § 255a Paragraph 2 can be better protected,
- or if there is concern that the witness cannot be interrogated in the main proceedings and the recording is necessary for truth-finding.
- Furthermore, the interrogation must be recorded after consideration of the respective relevant circumstances and carried out as judicial interrogation if the legitimate interests of persons injured by crimes against sexual self-determination (§§ 174 to 184j of the Criminal Code) can be better protected and the witness has consented to the audio-video recording before the interrogation.
Audiovisual Interrogation of Undercover Investigators
The audiovisual interrogation of particularly endangered police informants or undercover investigators according to § 247a StPO can take place with technical modification of image and sound transmission protecting the identity of the interrogated person if otherwise a blocking declaration from the responsible authority would oppose the interrogation.
Ordering a Judicial Interrogation
If the requirements for audio-video recording according to § 168c II StPO are met, the prosecution examines whether a judicial interrogation should be requested with regard to criminal procedural usability. This is the case when the intended use of the audio-video recording in a later main proceeding requires judicial interrogation of the witness.
Audiovisual Interrogation by Police
Legal Aspects
Through the reference § 163 Para. 3 StPO, the provisions of § 136 Para. 4 S. 2 StPO also apply to witness interrogation by police. If the investigating police consider recording a witness interrogation necessary, they submit the proceedings with a corresponding suggestion to the prosecution for decision.
Securing Witness Statements with Mangold Video Interrogation System as Evidence
Police video interrogation is also protection for officers against later allegations of illegal interrogation. Moreover, incriminating statements are often revised or even completely withdrawn, which can lead to the original descriptions no longer being recognized as evidence in court. The repeatability of video interrogation can be a key to truth-finding here.
Audiovisual interrogation offers witnesses the possibility of not having to testify again in court. This increases witness acceptance of video interrogation since direct contact with suspects can be avoided.
Mangold Convinces - Portable Systems for Video Interrogation
In a Europe-wide tender by the Hessian State Criminal Police Office for the procurement of over 40 mobile interrogation systems, Mangold was able to prevail against several international competitors due to its powerful solutions and services.
The portable video interrogation system was specially adapted to the requirements of the LKA-Hessen based on the company’s proven system components.
Audiovisual Interrogation for Main Proceedings
Video Interrogation in Criminal Proceedings as Victim Protection
The principle of immediacy in German criminal proceedings requires the court to use the most crime-proximate evidence, which includes direct witness questioning instead of reading the police interrogation protocol. Furthermore, it also means that the court must directly gain an impression of the evidence and thus the witnesses. Nevertheless, criminal proceedings provide some
exceptions to this principle:
Thus, § 255a StPO Para. 2 regulates the replacement of witness testimony in the main proceedings with video recording of the earlier judicial interrogation according to the requirements of § 168c II StPO.
Accordingly, urgent danger of serious disadvantage to the witness’s welfare must threaten. This usually concerns secondary traumatization, i.e., reliving the crime, including intensification of the psychological damage already caused by the crime.
Equal Treatment through Mangold’s Mobile Video Interrogation System
In the discretionary decision of whether a witness is interrogated using video technology, technical requirements must not play a role. Based on the principle of equality from Art. 3 GG alone, witness protection must not depend on which court the trial takes place at and how well equipped it is technically:
Mangold’s portable video interrogation system enables creating the technical requirements for professional and legally secure video interrogation at any time and place. Easy transportability, robust system components, and simple setup as well as intuitive and secure operability without necessary training effort and additional personnel are the foundation for this.
Technology for Audiovisual Interrogation
Once the legal requirements for the admissibility or obligation of audiovisual interrogation are met, technical and organizational conditions follow to ensure the court usability of video-documented interrogations, which are fulfilled by a Mangold video interrogation system:
Authenticity of Recordings
The recordings created with Mangold VideoSyncPro Studio carry case numbers, timecode, date, time, and location of the interrogation and include authenticity verification.
For data integrity verification, a checksum is calculated for each video file during recording. When the relevant recording is reopened, this checksum is verified. If the checksums are identical, it can be assumed with high probability that the recording data has not been changed. Since multiple videos are recorded independently but synchronously with multi-camera technology in one session, manipulation can be almost excluded since all videos would have to be changed in this case.
Markers with Timestamps, Pausing Recordings, and Report Generation
For marking and commenting on relevant interrogation passages, corresponding markers with timestamps can be set during and after recording and comments can be entered. The comments are later automatically entered into an interrogation report.
In practice, it happens that an interrogation officer must briefly leave the room during a recording or a lawyer must conduct a separate client consultation. In these cases, Mangold VideoSyncPro Studio software offers the possibility to pause a recording without interrupting the time flow.
To obtain all relevant information at a glance, an automatic recording report is created as a PDF for each recording. The report displays the basic interrogation data, comment entries, and marker timestamps.
Security and Rights Concept
Mangold VideoSyncPro Studio software has a comprehensive security and rights concept. This allows user roles to be created and assigned, such as “Administrator” or “Case Worker”. These roles can then use different software functions. This ensures that changes to the system configuration are only made by technically and legally authorized persons.
Compatibility, Password Protection, and Encryption
According to law, video interrogations must be securely stored until the legally binding conclusion of proceedings. Thereafter, the files are deleted and the data carriers are returned to the owner, e.g., the responsible police. However, media files are sometimes stored longer due to possible reopening procedures or applicable limitation periods.
Interrogation files must be able to be easily exchanged between authorities at any time. Due to the possibility of misuse, it must also be ensured that the files, as part of the criminal file, do not fall into the wrong hands and can be copied.
The audio and video files created with Mangold VideoSyncPro Studio meet these requirements in various ways:
- The system’s data carriers can be protected with a procedure approved by the Federal Office for Information Security.
- Media files can be played outside the system with common video player software.
An audiovisual interrogation system from Mangold covers important technical, content-related, and security-relevant aspects that are necessary for smooth implementation and ensuring court admissibility.
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Mangold Interview Recording is a secure and compliant solution for recording legal and professional interviews.
