Four rules of the American Psychology-Law Society are designed to minimize the likelihood of a false conviction resulting from the misidentification of a suspect from a line-up: (1) The person conducting the line-up should not know which member of the line-up is the suspect; (2) The eyewitness should be warned the criminal might not be present; (3) Foils should be selected based on the verbal description of the criminal by the eyewitness; and (4) Confidence should be recorded at the time of identification. The way in which line-ups are conducted in England and Wales would, with minor modifications, satisfy the four rules. Policymakers need to realize that, despite relatively clear law, the fact that identification officers may actively try to prevent witnesses from giving confidence judgments because the law does not make specific recommendations on this issue shows how carefully law must be drafted in this area. One reason why the law on line-ups is followed so closely in England and Wales is that judges have shown they will dismiss cases if the relevant law is not applied. 8 references