Republic Act No. 7438
April 27, 1992
AN ACT
DEFINING CERTAIN RIGHTS OF PERSON ARRESTED, DETAINED OR UNDER CUSTODIAL
INVESTIGATION AS WELL AS THE DUTIES OF THE ARRESTING, DETAINING AND
INVESTIGATING OFFICERS, AND PROVIDING PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS THEREOF
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the Philippines in Congress assembled:Section
1.
Statement
of Policy.
– It is
the policy of the Senate to value the dignity of every human being and
guarantee full respect for human rights.
Section
2.
Rights
of Persons Arrested, Detained or Under Custodial Investigation; Duties of
Public Officers.
–
(a) Any person arrested detained or under custodial
investigation shall at all times be assisted by counsel.
(b) Any public officer or employee, or anyone acting under
his order or his place, who arrests, detains or investigates any person for the
commission of an offense shall inform the latter, in a language known to and
understood by him, of his rights to remain silent and to have competent and
independent counsel, preferably of his own choice, who shall at all times be
allowed to confer privately with the person arrested, detained or under
custodial investigation. If such person cannot afford the services of his own
counsel, he must be provided with a competent and independent counsel by the
investigating officer.
(c) The custodial investigation report shall be reduced to
writing by the investigating officer, provided that before such report is
signed, or thumb marked if the person arrested or detained does not know how to
read and write, it shall be read and adequately explained to him by his counsel
or by the assisting counsel provided by the investigating officer in the
language or dialect known to such arrested or detained person, otherwise, such
investigation report shall be null and void and of no effect whatsoever.
(d) Any extrajudicial confession made by a person arrested,
detained or under custodial investigation shall be in writing and signed by
such person in the presence of his counsel or in the latter's absence, upon a valid
waiver, and in the presence of any of the parents, elder brothers and sisters,
his spouse, the municipal mayor, the municipal judge, district school
supervisor, or priest or minister of the gospel as chosen by him; otherwise,
such extrajudicial confession shall be inadmissible as evidence in any
proceeding.
(e) Any waiver by a person arrested or detained under the
provisions of Article 125 of the Revised Penal Code, or under custodial
investigation, shall be in writing and signed by such person in the presence of
his counsel; otherwise the waiver shall be null and void and of no effect.
(f) Any person arrested or detained or under custodial
investigation shall be allowed visits by or conferences with any member of his
immediate family, or any medical doctor or priest or religious minister chosen
by him or by any member of his immediate family or by his counsel, or by any
national non-governmental organization duly accredited by the Commission on
Human Rights of by any international non-governmental organization duly
accredited by the Office of the President. The person's "immediate
family" shall include his or her spouse, fiancé or fiancée, parent or
child, brother or sister, grandparent or grandchild, uncle or aunt, nephew or
niece, and guardian or ward.
As used
in this Act, "custodial investigation" shall include the practice of
issuing an "invitation" to a person who is investigated in connection
with an offense he is suspected to have committed, without prejudice to the
liability of the "inviting" officer for any violation of law.
Section
3.
Assisting
Counsel.
–
Assisting counsel is any lawyer, except those directly affected by the case,
those charged with conducting preliminary investigation or those charged with
the prosecution of crimes.
The
assisting counsel other than the government lawyers shall be entitled to the
following fees;
(a) The amount of One hundred fifty pesos (P150.00) if the
suspected person is chargeable with light felonies;
(b) The amount of Two hundred fifty pesos (P250.00) if the
suspected person is chargeable with less grave or grave felonies;
(c) The amount of Three hundred fifty pesos (P350.00) if the
suspected person is chargeable with a capital offense.
The fee for the assisting counsel shall be paid by the city
or municipality where the custodial investigation is conducted, provided that
if the municipality of city cannot pay such fee, the province comprising such
municipality or city shall pay the fee: Provided, That the Municipal or City
Treasurer must certify that no funds are available to pay the fees of assisting
counsel before the province pays said fees.
In the
absence of any lawyer, no custodial investigation shall be conducted and the
suspected person can only be detained by the investigating officer in accordance
with the provisions of Article 125 of the Revised Penal Code.
Section
4.
Penalty
Clause.
– (a) Any
arresting public officer or employee, or any investigating officer, who fails
to inform any person arrested, detained or under custodial investigation of his
right to remain silent and to have competent and independent counsel preferably
of his own choice, shall suffer a fine of Six thousand pesos (P6,000.00) or a
penalty of imprisonment of not less than eight (8) years but not more than ten
(10) years, or both. The penalty of perpetual absolute disqualification shall
also be imposed upon the investigating officer who has been previously
convicted of a similar offense.
The same penalties shall be imposed upon a public officer or
employee, or anyone acting upon orders of such investigating officer or in his
place, who fails to provide a competent and independent counsel to a person
arrested, detained or under custodial investigation for the commission of an
offense if the latter cannot afford the services of his own counsel.
(b) Any person who obstructs, prevents or prohibits any
lawyer, any member of the immediate family of a person arrested, detained or
under custodial investigation, or any medical doctor or priest or religious
minister chosen by him or by any member of his immediate family or by his
counsel, from visiting and conferring privately with him, or from examining and
treating him, or from ministering to his spiritual needs, at any hour of the
day or, in urgent cases, of the night shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment
of not less than four (4) years nor more than six (6) years, and a fine of four
thousand pesos (P4,000.00)
The
provisions of the above Section notwithstanding, any security officer with
custodial responsibility over any detainee or prisoner may undertake such
reasonable measures as may be necessary to secure his safety and prevent his
escape.
Section
5.
Repealing
Clause.
– Republic
Act No. No. 857, as amended, is hereby repealed. Other laws, presidential
decrees, executive orders or rules and regulations, or parts thereof
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are repealed or modified
accordingly.
Section
6.
Effectivity.
– This Act shall take
effect fifteen (15) days following its publication in the Official Gazette or
in any daily newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines.
Approved:
April 27, 1992
