TNAG-2156-FCO40-3076-International-Covenant-on-Civil-and-Political-Rights-(ICCPR)-1990 — Page 56

CCPR/C/58/Add.6 page 24

inappropriate or impracticable, are met. These conditions apply, for instance, where arrest is necessary to prevent the person from causing physical harm to himself or others, or from damaging property, or from causing an unlawful obstruction of the highway;

(d) Detention: the policy may detain for questioning a person who has been arrested, normally up to 24 hours without charge. In the case of a serious arrestable offence, however, and upon the authority of a senior officer (superintendent or above) a suspect may be detained for up to a further 36 hours in order to obtain or secure evidence; and, on the authority of a magistrate, they may hold him for up to a further 36 hours. At the expiry of these periods, they must either charge him and bring him before a magistrates' court as soon as possible or bail him to appear in court; or release him without charge, either on bail or without bail;

(e) Questioning: the police may search all those in police custody. Upon the authority of a senior officer (at least superintendent), and with the suspect's consent, they may carry out intimate searches (of the body orifices) for class A drugs, as set out in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, as amended, for articles which might be used to cause injury. They may take fingerprints without the suspect's consent in certain circumstances; similarly, they may take non-intimate samples without the suspect's consent if certain conditions

are met.

or

109. These extensive powers are balanced by a number of important rights for the suspect, which are contained in the Act and elaborated in the codes of practice made under the Act. The principal safeguards are:

(a) Records of searches must be made;

(b) The suspect must be told that he is being arrested, given the reason for his arrest and cautioned (advised that he does not have to say anything or answer any questions); thus the Act gives effect to longstanding common law rules in this respect;

(c) The post of custody officer has been introduced. He is responsible for initially authorizing the detention of a person in police custody and for ensuring that all those in police detention are treated in accordance with the Act and codes of practice and that custody records are kept on each person detained. He is also responsible for ensuring that the suspect is advised of his rights, e.g. the right to consult a solicitor;

(d) The suspect is entitled to have one person notified of his arrest and may consult a solicitor privately at any time if he wishes. The exercise of these rights may be delayed for up to 36 hours in cases involving serious arrestable offences (48 hours in the case of terrorist suspects) on the authority of a superintendent or above. In the case of R. v. Samuel the Court of Appeal held that the discretion of the police to delay access to a solicitor must relate to the specific circumstances of the case;

(e) The detention periods are subject to periodic reviews and after 36 hours to the sanction of the court;

A