The psychological debate about the nature of memory has taken center stage in Canadian courtrooms. Retrieved-memory cases have sparked a controversy within the mental health and legal disciplines. Some experts argue that early memories of abuse that have been repressed cannot be fully retrieved in adulthood without major distortion. Others say that such memories could not be repressed at all, while still others contend that false memories may easily be implanted by therapists. While the very nature of memory is intangible, Canadian courts must find ways, by altering evidentiary procedures, to come closer to probabilities of truth. When we question the nature of memory we foray into theories of consciousness. Thus courts face the difficult task of seeking the truth about the past when the past itself is filtered through memory. Since memory necessarily involves the rewriting of personal identity through the subjective reinterpretation of the past, traditional procedures in the law of evidence must be reexamined and ultimately relaxed in the context of retrieved-memory cases.
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