Part 3
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These guarantees do not just help to protect detainees, but also serve to safeguard the police. Most police officers will have experienced at some time in their
careers, malicious allegations against them by suspects who falsely claim that
the police who dealt with them ill-treated them, forced them to sign confessions,
or behaved in some other illegal and unprofessional way. If an independent and
professional lawyer and doctor who are not subject to control and instructions
from authorities have had access to the suspect, and have been present at the
police station and able to examine the suspect, it is less likely that allegations
will be made. Furthermore, if a lawyer is present when a suspect makes a confession, it is highly unlikely that the confession will be withdrawn later in court.
3.4.1 The Right to be Promptly Informed About One’s Rights According to
Domestic Law
Detainees should be informed of their entitlements. As this right exists from
the very outset of custody, the information should be conveyed at the commencement of the deprivation of liberty.
Practice has shown that detained persons are not always informed promptly
of their rights. Indeed, it is a common error that the notification of rights is
delayed until the time that the suspect has been interviewed by criminal
investigators, or even until after the interview has been completed.
Yet it is a legal requirement that the authority responsible for the arrest, detention or imprisonment inform the individual at the moment of arrest or promptly
thereafter of his or her rights, and explain how to avail himself or herself of such
rights.92 These include the right to notify appropriate persons of their choice of
their detention, the right not to confess, the right not to testify against him or
herself and to remain silent, the right to be brought promptly before a judge
to determine the lawfulness of his or her arrest, the right to access to legal
counsel of their choice, and the right to medical attention. It is also recommended that these rights be communicated both orally and in writing, and that
the detainee is asked to sign to the effect that he or she has received the notification. Information on rights should be given orally for persons who do not know
how to read and through interpretation for persons who do not have sufficient
knowledge of any of the languages in which the written version is produced.
92
Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or
Imprisonment, op. cit., note 1, Principle 13.
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