Following the allegation of police brutality and the death of a prisoner in police custody, the whole objective of this paper is to make people aware of the rights of a suspect in police custody. Every police officer should know that the Judges? rules form part of their academic training at the Police Training School and that they will have to apply them while enforcing the law.

The rules resulted from the law that a confession is not admissible in evidence unless made freely and voluntarily, and that it will not be deemed to have been made freely or voluntarily if there is any degree of coercion or inducement from a person in authority. That a confession or statement was freely made is for the prosecution to prove.

If a confession is made to a police officer, special care has to be taken to avoid allegations of compulsion, oppression or persuasion. All of which are easy to make and so difficult to rebut, particularly in the case of a person in police custody. It was as a result of this difficulty that the Judges? rules were first formulated in 1912, with regard to the questioning, cautioning, and taking of statements from persons suspected of crime or in police custody on a criminal charge.

It is important to remember that the rules apply to any offence, i.e. summary or indictable. When a police officer is trying to discover whether, or by whom, an offence has been committed, he is entitled to question any person, whether suspected or not, from whom he thinks that useful information may be obtained. This is so whether or not the person in question has been taken into custody so long as he has not been charged with the offence or informed that he may be prosecuted for it.

As soon as a police officer has evidence which would afford reasonable grounds for suspecting that a person has committed an offence, he shall caution that person or cause him to be cautioned before putting to him any questions or further questions, relating to that offence. The caution shall be in the following terms:

?You are not obliged to say anything unless you wish to do so but what you say may be put into writing and given in evidence.?

When, after being cautioned, a person is being questioned, or elects to make a statement, a record shall be kept of the time and place at which any such questioning or statement began and ended and of the persons present. A person is deemed to be in custody immediately after he is told that he is to be arrested, but this does not preclude questioning him in accordance with the rule.

Where a person is charged with or informed that he may be prosecuted for an offence he shall be cautioned in the following terms: ?Do you wish to say anything. You are not obliged to say anything unless you wish to do so but what ever you say will be taken down in writing and may be given in evidence.?

It is only in exceptional cases that questions relating to the offence should be put to the accused person after he has been charged or informed that he may be prosecuted. Such questions may be put where they are necessary for the purpose of preventing or minimizing harm or loss to some other person or to the public or for clearing up an ambiguity in a previous answer or statement. Before any such questions are put, the accused should be cautioned in these terms: ?I wish to put some questions to you about the offence with which you have been charged or about the offence for which you may be prosecuted. You are not obliged to answer any of these questions, but if you do the questions and answers will be taken down in writing and may be given in evidence.?

All written statements made after caution shall be taken in the following manner:

(a) If a person says that he wants to make a statement he shall be told that it is intended to make a written record of what he says. He shall always be asked whether he wishes to write down himself what he wants to say. If he says that he cannot write or that he would like someone to write it for him, a police officer may offer to write the statement for him. If he accepts the offer the police officer shall, before starting, ask the person making the statement to sign, or make his mark.

Any person writing his own statement shall be allowed to do so without any prompting as distinct from indicating to him what matters are material.

The person making the statement, if he is going to write it himself, shall be asked to write out and sign it.

Whenever a police officer writes the statement, he shall take down the exact words spoken by the person making the statement without putting any questions other than such as may be needed to make the statement coherent, intelligible and relevant to the material matters, and shall not prompt him.

When the writing of a statement by a police officer is finished, the person making it shall be asked to read it and to make any corrections, alterations or additions he wishes. When he has finished reading it he shall be asked to write and sign or make his mark on the following certificate at the end of the statement.

If the person who has made a statement refuses to read it or sign it, the senior police officer present shall make a record of the circumstances and any witnesses present.

If at any time after a person has been charged with an offence, a police officer wishes to bring to the notice of the person any written statement made by another person charged with the same offence, the police officer shall hand to that person a true copy of such written statement without inviting any comments from that person. If that person says something, the police officer would have to warn him that whatever he says will be used in evidence in court.

These rules enable a police officer to exercise his discretion whether or not to serve a copy of an accused?s statement upon another person or persons charged or likely to be charged with the same offence. It emphasizes that the procedure is only necessary where the investigating officer wishes it.