Bosnia and Herzegovina

Criminal Procedure Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Article 78 - Instructing the Suspect on His Rights

At the beginning of the questioning, the suspect shall be informed of the charge against him, the grounds for the charge and he shall be informed of the following rights:

the right not to present evidence or answer questions;

the right to retain a defense attorney of his choice who may be present at questioning and the right to a defense attorney at no cost in such cases as provided by this Code;

the right to comment on the charges against him, and to present all facts and evidence in his favor, and that if he does so in the presence of the defence attorney, the statement made shall be admissible as evidence at the main trial and may, without his consent, be read and used at the main trial;

that during the investigation, he is entitled to study files and view the collected items in his favor unless the files and items concerned are such that their disclosure would endanger the aim of investigation;

the right to an interpreter service at no cost if the suspect does not understand the language used for questioning.

The suspect may voluntarily waive the rights stated in Paragraph 2 of this Article but his questioning may not commence unless his waiver has been recorded officially and signed by the suspect. To waive the right to a defense attorney shall not be possible for the suspect under any circumstances in case of a mandatory defense under this Code.

In the case when the suspect has waived the right to a defense attorney, but later expressed his desire to retain one, the questioning shall be immediately suspended and shall resume when the suspect has retained or has been appointed a defense attorney, or if the suspect has expressed a wish to answer the questions.

If the suspect has voluntarily waived the right not to answer the questions asked, he must be allowed to present views on all facts and evidence that speak in his favor.

If any actions have been taken contrary to the provisions of this Article, the Court’s decision may not be based on the statement of the suspect.

Article 79 - Manner of Questioning of the Suspect

A record shall be made on every questioning of the suspect. The important parts of the statement shall be entered in the record word for word. After the record has been completed, the record shall be read to the suspect and the copy of it shall be given to him.

As a rule, a questioning of the suspect shall be audio or video recorded under the following conditions:
the suspect shall be informed in the language he speaks and shall understand that the questioning is being audio or video recorded;

if the questioning is adjourned, the reason and time of the adjournment shall be indicated in the record, as well as the time of resumption and the completion of the hearing;

at the end of the questioning, the suspect shall be allowed to explain whatever he has said and to add whatever he wants;

the tape record thus made shall be transcribed as soon as feasible after the completion of the questioning, and a copy of the transcript shall be handed to the suspect along with a copy of the tape recording, or if a device for making several records simultaneously was used, he shall be handed one of the originals;

once a copy of the original tape has been made for the purpose of making a transcript, the original tape or one of the originals shall be sealed off in the presence of the suspect and authenticated by the respective signatures of the authorized official and the suspect.

Article 80 - Questioning through an Interpreter

The suspect shall be questioned through an interpreter in cases referred to in Article 87 of this Code .

Keywords

Fair trial standards



EDIT.