Everyday knowledge about language and speech, or ‘folk linguistics’, incorporates a number of false beliefs that have a negative effect in a range of areas, nowhere more so than in the criminal justice system. One lesser known area where false beliefs have a major impact is forensic transcription (interpretation of indistinct covert recordings used as evidence in criminal trials). Without consultation of the linguistic sciences, the law has developed processes that allow police transcripts to ‘assist’ the courts in making out unintelligible covert recordings. The present article uses a case study of a real murder trial to bring the actual and potential injustice this creates to the attention of linguistic science, and examine the issues from a linguistics perspective. Having laid out the problem, it goes on to consider potential solutions, arguing that creating a better process requires deep collaboration between linguistics, law and law enforcement. From linguists, it requires improved theoretical understanding of the nature and structure of the false beliefs that underlie the existing legal processes, as well as development of a more general theoretical account of the process of transcription and the nature of transcripts.

中文翻译：

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法医转录：关于语言和言论的自信错误信念如何威胁澳大利亚公平审判的权利

关于语言和言论的日常知识，或“民间语言学”，包含了许多在一系列领域产生负面影响的错误信念，尤其是在刑事司法系统中。一个鲜为人知的错误信念具有重大影响的领域是法医转录（解释在刑事审判中用作证据的模糊秘密录音）。在没有咨询语言科学的情况下，法律制定了允许警方记录“协助”法庭制作难以理解的秘密录音的程序。本文使用真实谋杀案审判的案例研究，将由此造成的实际和潜在的不公正引起语言学的注意，并从语言学的角度审视这些问题。提出问题后，它继续考虑潜在的解决方案，认为创造更好的流程需要语言学、法律和执法部门之间的深入合作。对于语言学家来说，它需要改进对构成现有法律程序基础的错误信念的性质和结构的理论理解，以及对转录过程和转录本性质的更一般的理论解释。