Confession

A legal confession involves an admission of some wrongdoing that has a legal consequence, while the concept of confession in religion varies widely across various belief systems, and is usually more akin to a ritual by which the person acknowledges thoughts or actions considered sinful or morally wrong within the confines of the confessor's religion.

Paul Wilkes characterizes confession as "a pillar of mental health" because of its ability to relieve anxieties associated with keeping secrets.

[1] In law, there is an exception to the hearsay rule that allows testimony concerning someone else's confession to be admitted if the statement had a great enough tendency "to expose the declarant to civil or criminal liability".

Pakala Narayan Swami v. Emperor, AIR 1939 PC 47 Section 24 mandates a confession must be voluntary.

It reads: When any fact is deposed to as discovered in consequence of information received from a person accused of any offence, in the custody of a police officer, so much of such information, whether it amounts to a confession or not, as relates distinctly to the fact thereby discovered, may be proved.

26 and 27.According to section 30 of Indian Evidence Act, when two or more persons are tried jointly, a confession by one accused incriminating himself and others is relevant.

[12] Public confessions play a role in struggle sessions[13] and in other methods of social control and influence involving self-criticism.