NSW LAW REFORM COMMISSION PUBLICATIONS RELEASED UNDER THE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE REFERENCE

• General Introduction and Proceedings in Courts of Petty Sessions (Issues Paper 3 and Outline, 1982);
• Long Criminal Trials (Background Paper, 1985);
• The Jury in a Criminal Trial (Discussion Paper 12, 1985);
• Unsworn Statements of Accused Persons (Report 45, 1985);
• The Jury in a Criminal Trial (Report 48, 1986);
• The Jury in a Criminal Trial: Empirical Studies (Research Report 1, 1986);
• Procedure from Charge to Trial: A General Proposal for Reform (Discussion Paper 13, 1986);
• Procedure from Charge to Trial: Specific Problems and Proposals (Discussion Papers 14/1 and 14/2, 1987);
• Police Powers of Arrest and Detention (Discussion Paper 16, 1987); and
• Police Powers of Detention and Investigation after Arrest (Report 66, 1990).

SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE POLICE POWERS REPORT

• Police should be given the right to detain suspects for up to four hours after arrest for the purposes of questioning or conducting other authorised investigative procedures, and police may apply to a court or a justice for an extension of up to eight or more hours in difficult cases.
• Police are to be made responsible for persons in their custody, who are to be treated with respect for human dignity. Police will be required to maintain detailed and complete custody records. The creation of specialist “Custody Officers” in the Police Service should be considered.
• Specific rights and safeguards for persons in police custody must be enshrined in legislation, including the right to silence, the right to communicate with a friend or family member, the right to legal assistance, and the right to an interpreter.
• Detailed Codes of Practice regulating criminal investigations as a whole should be developed by the Police Service after public consultation, to replace the Police Commissioner’s Instructions in this area.
• Special rules should be developed as part of the Codes of Practice to regulate the treatment of children, Aboriginal persons and other vulnerable persons in police custody.
• All police interviews with suspects shall be electronically recorded. Evidence of a confession will not be admissible in court unless it is electronically recorded or there is some other independent verification.
• Evidence obtained illegally or improperly (in breach of the new rules of criminal investigation) will be presumed to be inadmissible, although courts will retain the discretion to admit the evidence in the interests of justice.
• There should be a follow-up study by the Commission of the operation of the new system after one year, to assess its effectiveness and recommend any needed modifications.