(e) Confessions made by a
person under police detention
without the presence of a lawyer
should not be admissible as
evidence against the person;
Coerced confessions were
said to be used by the
Prosecutor General’s Office
as evidence to secure
convictions;
Government: the CPC provides that the defence counsel
has the right to be present when a suspect or an accused
person is searched or arrested and grants the right of a
suspect or accused person to refuse a lawyer (article
153);
The Plenary of the Supreme
Court had issued a
resolution, inter alia,
reiterating that testimonies
obtained under duress shall
not be admitted as evidence
to court.
The right of self-defence, along with the right to legal
assistance, are also contained in article 90 CC;
The testimony given by a person who has refused a
lawyer at the temporary detention centre may be
accepted as evidence even if no lawyer was present;
CCP article 92(12) CCP holds that the investigator, the
prosecutor or the court may accept the refusal from the
lawyer in a case where the suspect or accused person
makes this request on his own initiative, voluntarily and
in presence of a lawyer or trusted person;
The refusal of the suspect or the accused of a lawyer
because of the lack of means to pay for legal assistance
is not accepted, and a lawyer is provided for him;
CCP article 125(2) provides that evidence obtained in
violation of a defendant’s rights is not permitted; such
information is considered as having no legal force
(article 125(3)).
Non-governmental sources: trial monitoring conducted
by NGOs showed that the courts continue to rely on
confessions that may have been obtained by torture or
ill-treatment; It was possible to identify a pattern
whereby judges fail to take allegations seriously and do
not initiate detailed investigations.
(f) Given the numerous reports
of inadequate legal counsel
provided by State-appointed
lawyers, measures should be
taken to improve legal aid
Detainees’ access to
lawyers often restricted;
Police pressured detainees
not to seek counsel or to
accept State-appointed
Government: a new law, elaborated in cooperation with
the Council of Europe and the OSCE with the aim of
enhancing the effectiveness of the provision of legal aid,
entered into force in August 2004.
For awareness raising purposes a booklet "Human
Non-governmental
sources: There are reports
of confessions being
obtained in violation of the
rights of the accused to the
assistance of an interpreter
and defence lawyer, as well
as detainees being coerced
into signing statements
incriminating themselves.
There are also reports of
the fabrication of
documents including
transcripts of
interrogations.
A/HRC/13/39/Add.6
8
been awarded compensation as a result of torture or illtreatment;