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72.   Criminal proceedings: admissions by defendants

Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2021)

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72.   Criminal proceedings: admissions by defendants

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    (1)   This section applies only—

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      (a)     in criminal proceedings;

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      (b)     in relation to evidence of an admission made by a defendant who, at the time when the admission was made, was or ought reasonably to have been suspected by an investigating official of having committed an offence; and

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      (c)     where the admission was made in the course of official questioning.

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    (2)   Subject to subsections (5) and (6), evidence of an admission is not admissible unless—

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      (a)     the questioning of the person and any thing said by the person during the questioning was tape recorded; or

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      (b)     the questioning of the person was conducted in the presence of a person, not being an investigating official, who was—

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        (i)     a justice of the peace, or

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        (ii)     an attorney-at-law acting for the person,

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      and a document prepared by or on behalf of the investigating official to prove the contents of the question, representation or response has been signed, initialed or otherwise marked by the person making the admission, and by the justice of the peace or the attorney-at-law, acknowledging that the document is a true record of the question, representation or response; or

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      (c)     in any other case—

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        (i)     at the time of the interview of the person or as soon as practicable afterwards, a record in writing was made, either in English or in another language used by the person in the interview, of the things said by or to the person in the course of the interview, and

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        (ii)     as soon as practicable after the record was made, it was read to the person in the language used by him or her in the interview and a copy of the record was made available to the person,

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        (iii)     the person was given the opportunity to interrupt the reading referred to in subparagraph (ii) at any time for the purpose of drawing attention to any error or omission that he or she claimed had been made in or from the record and, at the end of the reading, the person was given the opportunity to state whether he or she claimed that there were any errors in or omissions from the record in addition to any to which he or she had drawn attention in the course of the reading,

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        (iv)     a tape recording was made of the reading referred to in subparagraph (ii) and of everything said by or to the person as a result of compliance with subparagraph (iii) and the requirements of this subsection were observed in respect of that recording, and

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        (v)     before the reading referred to in subparagraph (ii), an explanation, in accordance with the form set out in Schedule 2, was given to the person of the procedure that would be followed for the purposes of compliance with that subparagraph and subparagraphs (iii) and (iv).

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    (3)   In subsection (2)(b), “document” does not include a sound recording or a transcript of a sound recording.

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    (4)   If the questioning, admission, or the confirmation of an admission, of a person is recorded as required under this section, or if the question, representation or response is contained in a prepared document as required under this section, the investigating official shall, without charge—

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      (a)     if the recording is an audio recording only or a video recording only, make the recording or a copy of it available to the person or his or her legal representative within 14 days after the making of the recording;

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      (b)     if both an audio recording and a video recording were made, make the audio recording or a copy of it available to the person or his or her legal representative within 14 days after the making or the recording, and notify the person or his or her legal representative that an opportunity will be provided, on request, for viewing the video recording;

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      (c)     if a transcript of the tape recording is prepared, make a copy of the transcript available to the person or his or her legal representative within 14 days after the preparation of the transcript; or

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      (d)     if a document is prepared, signed, initialled or otherwise marked as a true record of the question, representation and response, make a copy of the document available to the person or his or her legal representative within 14 days of the preparation of the document.

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    (5)   A court may admit evidence to which this section applies even if the requirements of this section have not been complied with, or there is insufficient evidence of compliance with those requirements, if, having regard to the nature of and the reasons for the non-compliance or insufficiency of evidence and any other relevant matters, the court is satisfied that, in the special circumstances of the case, admission of the evidence would not be contrary to the interests of justice.

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    (6)   A court may admit evidence to which this section applies even if a provision of subsection (2) has not been complied with if, having regard to the reasons for the non-compliance and any other relevant matters, the court is satisfied that it was not practicable to comply with that provision.

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    (7)   If a judge permits evidence to be given before a jury under subsection (5) or (6), the judge shall inform the jury of the non-compliance with the requirements of this section, or of the absence of sufficient evidence of compliance with those requirements, and give the jury such warning about the evidence as he or she thinks appropriate in the circumstances.

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    (8)   The Minister may by order published in the Gazette amend Schedule 2.

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    (Amended by Act 46 of 2006)

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