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The Detention and Interrogation of Suspects in Police Custody in France

A Comparative Account

School of Law, University of Warwick, UK, Jackie.Hodgson{at}warwick.ac.uk

Drawing upon my own empirical research, this article examines the regulation of the detention and interrogation of suspects held in police custody in France - the ways in which the rights and interests of the suspect are protected and the reliability of evidence guaranteed. After considering the legal framework and the impact of the European Convention on Human Rights, the article describes the actual practices and roles of key legal personnel and the relationships between them; the nature of judicial supervision; the role of the defence; and the conduct of police interrogations. The article concludes that neither judicial supervision by the public prosecutor as actually exercised nor the recently expanded rights of the defence provide sufficient guarantees to safeguard either the interests of the suspect or the reliability of evidence. Although the outcome of the investigation is reviewed, the process is not. Despite the centrality of confession evidence in practice and the obvious vulnerability of those detained, the police detention of suspects continues to be regarded in procedural terms as a preliminary (and, therefore, less important) investigation, with the result that the suspect is afforded fewer safeguards when interrogated by the police than when questioned by a judge.

Key Words: France • Police • Suspects • Custody • Interrogation

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