{"id":180982,"date":"2017-08-11T13:02:32","date_gmt":"2017-08-11T07:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=180982"},"modified":"2017-08-15T23:59:33","modified_gmt":"2017-08-15T18:29:33","slug":"is-the-criminal-procedure-act-still-valid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/is-the-criminal-procedure-act-still-valid\/","title":{"rendered":"Is The Criminal Procedure Act Still Valid?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Basil Fernando<\/a> –<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Basil Fernando<\/p><\/div>\n

The procedures that should be followed by the police in the investigations into crime are found in the Criminal Procedure Code<\/a> of Sri Lanka (CPC). Ever since the British introduced the basic procedures for investigations of crime based on their own laws, basic elements of the Criminal Procedure have remained the same. The Code of Criminal Procedure Act No 15 of 1959 together with all the amendments to this act is grounded on the same basic principles of criminal justice. Basic law and\u00a0 <\/span>procedure are rooted in the traditions of common law. <\/span><\/p>\n

Judging from the large body of factual details, that have become available through observations into the manner in which many cases are being dealt with, serious doubt arises as to whether in actual practice the Criminal Procedure Code has been replaced by new set of rules adopted to suit the conveniences of those involved, without any direct reference to the procedures set out by law. <\/span><\/p>\n

In this article we concentrate on one aspect of criminal procedure – the investigations into crime. The police as the prime investigative agency are responsible for investigation into all crimes.<\/span><\/p>\n

What we observe is that in recent times, the role of investigation is being replaced quite often by the police acting as negotiators and not as investigators. <\/span><\/p>\n

Let us take a case of a person complaining about abduction, threat of assassination and robbery of valuables which were in his possession.\u00a0<\/span>The task for the police if they were acting under the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code is to record the statement of the complainant and to investigate into all aspects of evidence available about these complaints. The manner in which such evidence should be collected and recorded have all been laid down in the CPC and has been subjected to further elaboration by way of a large body of case law. <\/span><\/p>\n

What we find however, is that no such gathering of evidence takes place in many of the instances. Gathering of evidence in the manner prescribed by law requires the use of many skills and also knowledge about forensic sciences. The actual investigations that take place in many instances are not conducted by officers who have the competence for such investigations. Besides, the superior officers seem to take the least amount of interest to ensure that the subordinates who work under them do their work in the manner required by the prescribed procedures. <\/span><\/p>\n

Most likely way the police would proceed can be summed up based on factual details and actual cases. <\/span><\/p>\n