Procedural Rights of Suspect

Procedural Rights of Suspect

Out of Many Rights of Suspect some Rights are given below :-

1) Right to have notice and information about arrest and criminal proceeding.

2) Right against torture and write to have compensation for torture 

3) Right to have counsel and legal representation from lawyers of choice 

4) Right against detention except judicial remand.

5) Right to remain silence

6) Right against double Jeopardy 

Firstly, Suspect means what ?

- Suspect is the person on whom accusation made or charged with fault or offence.Identity of Suspects only exist at trial period not before or after trail.

SUSPECT= अभियुक्त, संदिग्ध व्यक्ति

SUSPECT means a person believed to have committed a crime or done something wrong, or something believed to have caused something bad.( Cambridge Dictionary)

If accusation proved suspect change into guilty/offender and if accusation can't proved suspect change into innocent.

The right of the suspect are rights that he/she can claim during prosecution,investigation and trial of case. Those rights are also called procedural rights of the suspect.

Every Criminal law should follow the Principles of Natural Justice 

• Audi alterm partem (Hear the both side)

• Nemo judex in Causa Sua( No one can be judge in his/her case.)

1. Right to have notice and information about arrest and criminal proceeding

 Constitution of Nepal 

Article -20(1): No person shall be detained in custody without informing him or her of the ground for his or her arrest.

-Liberty is the most important part of human life that can't be snatched without strong reason.

Article - 20(8):Every person shall have the right to be informed of any proceeding taken against him or her.

 

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,1966(ICCPR)

Article-9(2):Anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for his arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against him.

2) Right against torture and Right to have compensation for torture 

European Human Rights Convention

Article -3 : Prohibition of Torture

- No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

 The human rights Court has started that torture is "deliberate inhuman treatment causing very serious and cruel sufferings."

Constitution of Nepal

Article-22: Rights against torture 

- No person who is arrested or detained shall be subjected to physical or mental torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

Any act mentioned in clause (1) shall be punishable by law, and any person who is the victim of such treatment shall have the right to obtain compensation in accordance with law.

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,1966(ICCPR)

Article -7

- No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or 

punishment. In particular, no one shall be subjected without his free consent to medical or scientific experimentation.

Universal Declaration Of Human Rights,1948 (UDHR)

 - Article -5

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

3.Right to have counsel and legal representation  from  lawyers  of  choice.

Constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights of subject

Article - 20(2) : Any person who is arrested shall have the right to consult a legal practitioner of his or her choice from the time of such arrest and to be defended by such legal practitioner. Any consultation made by such person with, and advice given by, his or her legal practitioner shall be confidential. Provided this clause shall not apply to a citizen of an enemy state.

Explanation: For the purpose of this clause, “legal practitioner” means any person who is authorized by law to represent any person in any court.

4. Right against detention except judicial remand.

Constitution of Nepal

Article-20(3): Any person who is arrested shall be produced before the adjudicating authority within a period of twenty-four hours of such arrest, excluding the time necessary for the journey from the place of arrest to such authority; and any such person shall not be detained in custody except on the order of such authority. Provided that this clause shall not apply to a person held in preventive detention and to a citizen of an enemy state.

Only after taking permission from adjudicating authority or Court person can be detained more than 24 hours.

Grounds: 

- If Strong Evidence against accused.

- If Investigation Continue Seriously 

- If Crime from Schedule -1 of National Criminal Code,2074

5) Right to Remain silence

Constitution Of Nepal

-> Article -20(7):No person shall be compelled to justify against him or herself

National Criminal Code,2074

Section-11: No compulsion to testify against oneself: 

-> No person accused of an offence shall be compelled to testify against himself or herself.

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,1966( ICCPR).

Article - 14(1)(g) 

- Not to be compelled to testify against himself or to confess guilt.

At the trial if the suspect neglects to accept any things or can't answer the raised question in court, the jury can't give a verdict against that suspect in the ground of not answering in interrogation due to principle of Principle of against self Incrimination.

6. Right against Double Jeopardy 

Right against Double Jeopardy is related with the Principle of Double Jeopardy which stop to suiting twice for the same offences or stop to make liable any person of the same offences.

Constitution Of Nepal 

Article-20(6): No person shall be tried and punished for the same offence in a court more than once.

National Criminal Code,2074

Section - 9 : No punishment again for the same offense: No person shall be prosecuted in a court and punished again for the same offence. 

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,1966( ICCPR).

Article -14(7): No one shall be liable to be tried or punished again for an offence for which he has already been finally convicted or acquitted in accordance with the law and penal procedure of each country.

No Person shall be tried and punished for the same offense in a court more than one . It is the Right of Suspect and procedural Safeguards of Suspects as well.

About Author 

Pritam Shah 

Undergraduate Student,B.A.LL.B

Prithvi Narayan Campus, Tribhuvan University