This article undertakes a theoretical exploration of the roles that confessions can play in the criminal process and of the importance that is placed on their voluntariness. It draws on contemporary and historical sources, as well as materials from different legal systems and traditions. Three possible perspectives on the topic are identified: the moral, the epistemic and the political. Adopting each of these perspectives in turn, I set out three distinct dimensions of confessions in the criminal process. In my account of each dimension, voluntariness is construed in the light of a particular understanding of confessions that is conceptually tied to a particular understanding of the criminal process. The conclusion remarks on the interplay of the three dimensions.

中文翻译：

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刑事程序中的自白

本文从理论上探讨了供认在刑事诉讼中可以扮演的角色，以及对供认的自愿性的重视。它借鉴了当代和历史资源以及不同法律制度和传统的资料。确定了关于该主题的三种可能的观点：道德，认识论和政治。我依次采用了这些观点，提出了刑事诉讼中供认的三个不同方面。在我对每个方面的解释中，自愿性都是根据对自白的特殊理解来解释的，从概念上讲，自白与对犯罪程序的特定理解有关。结论指出了这三个方面的相互作用。