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Act No. 7438.April
27, 1992AN
ACT DEFINING CERTAIN RIGHTS OF PERSON ARRESTED, DETAINEDOR
UNDER CUSTODIAL INVESTIGATION AS WELL AS THE DUTIES OF THE ARRESTING,DETAINING
AND INVESTIGATING OFFICERS, AND PROVIDING PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS
THEREOF.
REPUBLIC
ACT NO. 7438April
27, 1992 AN
ACT
DEFINING CERTAIN
RIGHTS OF PERSON ARRESTED, DETAINED OR UNDER CUSTODIAL INVESTIGATION AS
WELL AS THE DUTIES OF THE ARRESTING, DETAINING AND INVESTIGATING
OFFICERS,
AND PROVIDING PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS THEREOF.
Section 1. Statement
of Policy. - It is the policy of the Senate to value the dignity of
every human being and guarantee full respect for human rights.
Sec. 2. Rights of
Persons
Arrested, Detained or under Custodial Investigation; Duties of Public
Officers.
- (a) Any person arrested detained or under custodial investigation
shall
at all times be assisted by counsel.
(b) Any public officer
or
employee, or anyone acting under his order or his place, who arrests,
detains
or investigates any person for the commission of an offense shall
inform
the latter, in a language known to and understood by him, of his rights
to remain silent and to have competent and independent counsel,
preferably
of his own choice, who shall at all times be allowed to confer
privately
with the person arrested, detained or under custodial investigation. If
such person cannot afford the services of his own counsel, he must be
provided
with a competent and independent counsel by the investigating officer.
(c) The custodial
investigation report shall be reduced to writing by the investigating
officer,
provided that before such report is signed, or thumbmarked if the
person
arrested or detained does not know how to read and write, it shall be
read
and adequately explained to him by his counsel or by the assisting
counsel
provided by the investigating officer in the language or dialect known
to such arrested or detained person, otherwise, such investigation
report
shall be null and void and of no effect whatsoever.
(d) Any extrajudicial
confession
made by a person arrested, detained or under custodial investigation
shall
be in writing and signed by such person in the presence of his counsel
or in the latter's absence, upon a valid waiver, and in the presence of
any of the parents, elder brothers and sisters, his spouse, the
municipal
mayor, the municipal judge, district school supervisor, or priest or
minister
of the gospel as chosen by him; otherwise, such extrajudicial
confession
shall be inadmissible as evidence in any proceeding.
(e) Any waiver by a
person
arrested or detained under the provisions of Article 125 of the Revised
Penal Code, or under custodial investigation, shall be in writing and
signed
by such person in the presence of his counsel; otherwise the waiver
shall
be null and void and of no effect.
(f) Any person arrested
or detained or under custodial investigation shall be allowed visits by
or conferences with any member of his immediate family, or any medical
doctor or priest or religious minister chosen by him or by any member
of
his immediate family or by his counsel, or by any national
non-governmental
organization duly accredited by the Commission on Human Rights of by
any
international non-governmental organization duly accredited by the
Office
of the President. The person's "immediate family" shall include
his or her spouse, fiance or fiancee, parent or child, brother or
sister,
grandparent or grandchild, uncle or aunt, nephew or niece, and guardian
or ward.
As used this Act, "custodial
investigation" shall include the practice of issuing an "invitation"
to a person who is investigated in connection with an offense he is
suspected
to have committed, without prejudice to the liability of the "inviting"
officer for any violation of law.
Sec. 3. Assisting
Counsel.
- Assisting counsel is any lawyer, except those directly affected by
the
case, those charged with conducting preliminary investigation or those
charged with the prosecution of crimes.
The assisting counsel
other
than the government lawyers shall be entitled to the following fees:
(a) The amount of One
hundred
fifty pesos (P150.00) if the suspected person is chargeable with light
felonies;
(b) The amount of Two
hundred
fifty pesos (P250.00) if the suspected person is chargeable with less
grave
of grave felonies;
(c) The amount of
Three hundred fifty pesos (P350.00) if the suspected person is
chargeable
with a capital offense.
The fee for the
assisting
counsel shall be paid by the city or municipality where the custodial
investigation
is conducted, provided that if the municipality of city cannot pay such
fee, the province comprising such municipality or city shall pay the
fee:
Provided, That the Municipal of City Treasurer must certify that
no funds are available to pay the fees of assisting counsel before the
province pays said fees.
In the absence of any
lawyer,
no custodial investigation shall be conducted and the suspected person
can only be detained by the investigating officer in accordance with
the
provisions of Article 125 of the Revised Penal Code.
Sec. 4. Penalty
Clause.
- (a) Any arresting public officer of employee, or any investigating
officer,
who fails to inform any person arrested, detained or under custodial
investigation
of his right to remain silent and to have competent and independent
counsel
preferably of his own choice, shall suffer a fine of Six thousand pesos
(P6,000.00) or a penalty of imprisonment of not less than eight (8)
years
but not more than ten (10) years, or both. The penalty of perpetual
absolute
disqualification shall also be imposed upon the investigating officer
who
has been previously convicted of a similar offense.
The same penalties
shall
be imposed upon a officer or employee or anyone acting upon orders of
such
investigating officer or in his place, who fails to provide a competent
and independent counsel to a person arrested, detained or under
custodial
investigation for the commission of an offense if the latter cannot
afford
the services of his own counsel.
(b) Any person who
obstruct,
persons or prohibits any lawyer, any member of the immediate family of
a person arrested, detained or under custodial investigation, or any
medical
doctor or priest or religious minister chosen by him or by any member
of
his immediate family or by his counsel, from visiting and conferring
privately
with him, of from examining and treating him, or from ministering to
his
spiritual needs, at any hour of the day or, in urgent cases, of the
night
shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment of not less than four (4)
years
nor more than six (6) years, and a fine of four thousand pesos
(P4,000.00).
The provisions of the
above
Section notwithstanding, any security officer with custodial
responsibility
over any detainee or prisoner may undertake such reasonable measures as
may be necessary to secure his safety and prevent his escape.
Sec. 5. Repealing
Clause.
- Republic Act No. No. 857, as amended, is hereby repealed. Other
laws,
presidential decrees, executive orders or rules and regulations, or
parts
thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are repealed or
modified
accordingly.
Sec. 6. Effectivity.
- This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days following its
publication
in the Official Gazette or in any daily newspapers of general
circulation
in the Philippines.
Approved:
April 27, 1992
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