Spot of publicity on memory and the law

The Society is to be congratulated in attempting to undo the damage done by the 2008 Guidelines on Memory and the Law, which stated in its summary: 'A memory expert is a person who is recognised by the memory research community to be a memory researcher'. This was, of course, catnip to those challenging adult memories of childhood abuse, as the expert applied psychologists giving evidence on behalf of claimants found themselves outside the recommended guidelines.

Being over five years old the Guidelines were 'retired' by the Society, although they continue to be available online. They were the topic of a letter I wrote in 2021. As noted in the Chair of the Research Board's response, a Task and Finish group was set up to try and provide updated guidance, but failed to reach a consensus. The Research Board decided, faute de mieux, to ask members of the Group to 'work on a series of articles' to be published in a 'relevant journal'.

Possibly as a result, 2023 saw the publication of an article by a group of distinguished psychologists by the British Academy (who knew?) (Baddeley et al., Legal aspects of memory: A report issued by the Psychology and Law Sections of the British Academy. Journal of the British Academy, 11, 95-97 with annex).

A reconstituted Task and Finish Group in 2024 decided in 2024 to adopt this external article as official guidance, which status it now holds. It is appropriate that this is given a spot of publicity, so here it is.

Dr Adrian Skinner
Chartered Clinical Psychologist
Harrogate