€10 million ERC grant to investigate coercive interrogation practices awarded to Trinity Researcher’s.

Around the world, coercive and abusive interrogation practices ranging from intimidation and psychological pressure to denial of rights and physical force have remained widespread. These methods violate human rights, produce unreliable information, and cause serious harm to individuals and justice systems alike. The grim reality is that we live in a world where deeply troubling practices such as coercive interrogation exist within justice systems.

Although the pattern, style, modus operandi varies from the investigator to the interrogator, the sole objective remains in aligning the suspect-culprit in accordance to the narratives framed by the investigating entities. It is true that reports of such gruesome inhuman methodologies are often publicly reported, but a very weird treatment infamously known as: The White Room Treatment which although largely embargoed are found to be inculcated by the investigating agencies.

The term “The White Room Treatment” typically refers to white torture, a severe form of psychological torture involving extreme sensory deprivation and isolation. In white torture, the environment is meticulously controlled to eliminate sensory stimulation and personal identity. This method is designed to break a person mentally without leaving physical marks that traditional torture methods do.

This technique originated from sensory deprivation research in the 1950s, which was later deemed unethical. It has been documented as a method of psychological torture used on political prisoners, notably in Iran and in facilities in Venezuela, by intelligence services to extract confessions. Human rights organisations such as Amnesty International condemn this practice as a severe violation of fundamental human rights.

In order to mitigate these coercive interrogation practices, the European Research Council (ERC) has sanctioned a loan of €10 million to an international, interdisciplinary team of researchers, including Trinity’s Shane O’Mara and colleagues from Dublin City University, De Montfort University and Tilburg University, to investigate coercive and abusive interrogation practices, within a timeframe of 06 years.

The six years project, titled “JUSTICE – Joining Unique Strategies Together for Interrogative Coercion Elimination”, aims to replace coercive and abusive interrogation methods with those grounded in human rights and evidence.

The project brings together four leading academics from across Europe – Professor Dave Walsh (Leicester De Montfort Law School, DMU), Professor Shane O’Mara (Trinity College Dublin), Professor Yvonne Daly (Dublin City University), and Dr Bennett Kleinberg (Tilburg University, The Netherlands).

The JUSTICE project seeks to understand why such practices persist and how to replace them with effective, humane interviewing techniques that prioritise truth-seeking over confession-seeking.

Professor Walsh, from DMU’s Leicester De Montfort Law School, said the grant represented a major opportunity to reshape investigative practices worldwide.

He said: “This grant provides the opportunity to make a real and positive difference to lives around the globe. JUSTICE is a ground-breaking and ambitious project that will expose the fallacy of poor investigative practices and highlight the benefits of effective policing methods that adhere to ethical values, international legal norms and human rights. In short, we will help resolve criminal cases using fair and evidence-based means”.

The project combines expertise from law, psychology, neuroscience, and data science to explore how coercive methods take hold within systems and individuals, and what can drive meaningful change. By blending human and artificial intelligence, the team will develop scalable, validated tools to shape policy, training, and practice in investigative interviewing worldwide.

Professor Shane O’Mara, from Trinity College Dublin, said: “JUSTICE is about moving from confession-seeking to truth-seeking. By combining law, psychology, neuroscience and data science, we’ll pinpoint when and why coercion creeps into interviews and devise practical ways to prevent it”,

Professor Yvonne Daly, at Dublin City University, said the project demonstrates the power of cross-disciplinary collaboration. “All four of us are truly excited to bring our expertise together to tackle this serious societal issue. We’ve already learned so much from one another in designing our work programme, and we look forward to building a strong team to deliver this ambitious research with the support of the ERC Synergy Grant”.

Dr Bennett Kleinberg, from Tilburg University, added: “This grant enables us to pursue truly cross-disciplinary and ambitious research that would not otherwise be possible. Our project addresses a global, urgent and complex challenge: building the evidence base and driving change towards investigative interviewing practices that are effective, evidence-based, and fully compliant with human rights”.

Through its research, JUSTICE aims to promote humane, effective, and rights-compliant interviewing, aligning with the Mendez Principles on Effective Interviewing. The project’s long-term goal is to help establish a new global standard for ethical investigations, one that protects the innocent, supports victims, and strengthens public trust in justice systems worldwide.

Mendez Principles on Effective Interviewing –

The Méndez Principles on Effective Interviewing are a set of six principles for human rights-compliant, non-coercive information gathering, advocating for a shift from “confession-based” interrogation to science-based, rapport-building interviews.

They are founded on science, law, and ethics and emphasise professionalism, accountability, and careful implementation to ensure accurate information while safeguarding the rights of interviewees. The principles aim to reduce miscarriages of justice by replacing coercion with rapport-based techniques and by addressing the needs of vulnerable individuals.

The six principles:

• On Foundation: Effective interviewing is grounded in science, law, and ethics.

• On Practice: It is a comprehensive process that gathers accurate information while maintaining legal safeguards.

• On Vulnerability: It requires identifying and addressing the needs of vulnerable interviewees.

• On Training: Effective interviewing is a professional undertaking that requires specific training.

• On Accountability: It requires transparent and accountable institutions.

• On Implementation: Its implementation requires robust national measures.

Key objectives and applications:

• Replace coercion: The principles replace coercive interrogation with non-coercive, rapport-based interviewing.

• Improve accuracy: By using evidence-led, rapport-based questioning, the principles aim to elicit more accurate and reliable information.

• Protect human rights: They are designed to prevent miscarriages of justice, enhance trust in law enforcement, and protect the rights of suspects, victims, and witnesses.

• Serve justice: The principles help ensure that only guilty persons are convicted and that justice is served for victims, as ethically obtained information is more likely to be admissible in court.

• Support trauma-informed practices: They promote harm reduction and tailored questioning for vulnerable individuals, preventing re-victimization.

• Apply broadly: While initially focused on criminal investigations, the principles are applicable to intelligence gathering, immigration interviews, and other information-gathering processes.

Team Maverick