Before a suspect is questioned, what must the judicial police officer tell the suspect, and at what point in the proceedings?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In a practice file we read the interrogation record of the suspect, looking for any note that the notice was given, and any separate paper or copy setting out the matters the provision lists, since the provision requires the notice to be given before the questioning.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading takes the duty at face value: before questioning the suspect, the judicial police officer must tell them four things — that they may refuse to make any statement or to answer individual questions, that no disadvantage follows from refusing, that a statement made after waiving the right to refuse may be used in court as evidence of guilt, and that they may have defence counsel participate and otherwise receive counsel's assistance during questioning.
Another reading notes that paragraph two requires a record only of the suspect's answer to whether they will exercise the rights to refuse and to counsel, so the provision leaves open how the fact of the notice itself, and that it came before the questioning, would be evidenced in the file.
Your judgment
If the record shows only the suspect's answers to the two questions, what else in the file could establish that all four matters were told beforehand?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to require the notice itself to be recorded in the interrogation record, or if a court decision on the Criminal Procedure Act addresses the effect of an interrogation conducted without the notice.