Accusation Bias in Criminal Investigations: Cognitive Causes, Comparative Legal Analysis, and Procedural Mechanisms for Its Elimination
Year: 2026
Type: article
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.
Source: jurisprudence
Author: Shohruh Mirzo Khalilov
Language: English
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7204643284