The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill was published on August 12, 2016, and has been presented to Parliament by the Ministry of Justice. Between the time of arrest and until the time of the conclusion of the recording of a statement, the suspects are deprived of access to their Attorneys-at -law”. Granting access to lawyers after the suspects’ statements are recorded and just before them being produced before a Magistrate “is of little consequence”, she warns. It is necessary to strengthen, not weaken, the rights of suspects to have access to lawyers, the HRC says. The HRC has called upon the Government to withdraw the Bill.

Source: Sunday Times September 23, 2016 08:22 UTC