ACCUSATION BIAS IN CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS: COGNITIVE CAUSES, COMPARATIVE LEGAL ANALYSIS, AND PROCEDURAL MECHANISMS FOR ITS ELIMINATION

Abstract

The article analyzes the phenomenon of the inclination to blame (accusative bias) inherent in investigator activity during criminal investigation based on a comprehensive – normative, cognitive-psychological, and institutional – approach. A comparative study of modern international (“tunnel vision” and “confirmation bias” theories), European, post-Soviet, and national doctrinal sources reveals the cognitive roots of bias. The purpose of the article is to comprehensively analyze the cognitive, comparative-legal, and institutional aspects of propensity to blame, develop a system of procedural mechanisms to eliminate it, and substantiate the possibilities of their application as a scientific innovation. The study employed normative-dogmatic, comparative-legal, systemic-structural, and sociological (survey) methods. A system of seven procedural mechanisms for eliminating inclination to blame and a methodology for its empirical justification are proposed.