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Lawyers want dialogue on suspects' rights |
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Sunday, 22 June 2008 08:22am |
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 ©New
Sunday Times (Used by permission)
KUALA LUMPUR: The police are not fully respecting the rights of arrested
persons, and this is an issue of public concern.
Bar Council criminal practice committee chairman Hisyam Teh Poh Teik said that
concerns had been voiced to the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa
Hassan.
"We are waiting for a dialogue with him on this."
A new clause under Section 28A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), which came
into effect in September, states that:
- police must inform the arrested person that he can
communicate with his lawyer or family members before investigators begin
questioning or recording a statement.
- lawyers can have discussions with the arrested person in the presence of a
policeman.
- family members should be allowed to visit the arrested person while under
custody for the first 24 hours.
Hisyam said, in reality, it was difficult to meet the arrested person without
knowing the investigating officer.
Lawyer Baljit Singh Sidhu, who is a member of the Criminal Practice Committee,
said there was no privacy in a meeting between the counsel and client.
He said until today, there were no facilities within police premises for lawyers
to communicate with their clients.
Kuala Lumpur Bar criminal practice committee chairman N. Sivananthan said
procedures, especially on the strip and intimate search, were not followed
simply because of the lack of awareness of changes to the law.
"A search is not conducted in the presence of a lawyer or a family member, but
in the presence of two policemen."
Amer Hamzah Arshad, who is Bar Council Human Rights Committee deputy head, said
the remand period of a suspect was still open to abuse despite amendments to
Section 117 of the CPC.
He said police should investigate first and arrest later.
But the opposite took place most of the time because investigators failed to
appreciate the spirit behind the reform in the legislation.
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