The procedures at the pre-trial stage, i.e. the initial stage in criminal procedure, include the inquiries carried out by the criminal investigation authorities and the examination conducted by the Public Investigation and Prosecution Department.
This is one of the most important stages in criminal procedure, since it is the stage at which the measures that most affect the suspect's freedom and rights', such as investigation, arrest, search and remand in custody, are taken. It is also the stage at which proof and evidence are collected for the indictment under the terms of which the accused is brought before the judiciary. Since the manner in which the criminal act is depicted at this stage will have effects which the accused will have difficulty in dispelling at the trial stage, the Kingdom's rules and regulations contain numerous provisions designed to ensure the protection of human rights at this stage of criminal procedure.
(1) Criminal Investigation in Saudi Arabia
When administrative measures and- procedures fail to prevent the commission of an offence, the criminal investigation authorities begin their role by taking the necessary measures to investigate the offence and track down its perpetrators.
The criminal investigation officers have extremely important functions and responsibilities at the pre-trial stage, including the conduct of inquiries, the receipt of information and complaints, the investigation of offences, the preparation of reports on their findings and the referral of these reports to the examining authority (the Public Investigation and Prosecution Department) for appropriate action.
These reports are very important since they will influence the course of the examination and trial. Accordingly, in order to ensure that criminal investigation officers do not take any action in violation of the rights and freedoms of individuals at this stage., the Kingdom's rules of criminal procedure carefully regulate criminal investigation, designate the bodies competent to undertake such investigation, define the powers of those bodies and make provision for the control and supervision of their work.
(a) Definition of criminal investigation officers
In view of the fact that, by its very nature, the authority vested in criminal investigation officers might affect the rights and freedoms of individuals, the Regulatory Schedule appended to the Statutes of the Public Investigation and Prosecution Department defines the persons competent to engage in criminal investigation activities and clearly specifies their official functions and powers under the Statutes. Article 7, paragraph 31, of the Regulatory Schedule stipulates as follows:
"Criminal investigation activities shall be undertaken by:
(b) Supervision of the work of investigation officers
In view of the close interlinkage between criminal investigation activities and the activities of the Public Investigation and Prosecution: Department, since the findings of the criminal investigation officer constitute the cornerstone of the examination conducted by the Department, whose members are more thoroughly acquainted with the regulations and more capable of ensuring their proper application, the Schedule stipulates that the Public Investigation and Prosecution Department shall supervise the official activities of criminal investigation officers in order to ensure their proper implementation of the regulations and procedures. By virtue of this supervisory function, the Department has the right to require the competent body to investigate anyone who commits a breach of his duty or is remiss in his work. Article 7, paragraph 2, of the Schedule stipulates that:
"In their official duties, as defined in this Schedule, criminal investigation officers shall be subject to supervision by the Public Investigation and Prosecution Department, which shall be empowered to require the competent body to investigate anyone who commits a breach of his duty or is remiss in his work, without prejudice to any criminal action that might be brought against him."
This supervision is of a purely technical nature. Administrative supervision continues to be exercised by the administrative superiors to whom the officers report. The Public Investigation and Prosecution Department has the right to direct and supervise criminal investigation officers and call them to account for any breach or dereliction of their criminal investigation duties, without prejudice to their criminal liability.
(c) Inquiry procedures
The purpose of inquiries, which constitute the stage preceding the institution of criminal proceedings, is to collect information concerning an offence that has been committed in order to clarify matters for the examining authority so that it can take an appropriate decision thereon.
The inquiries provided for in the Schedule include: the detection and investigation of any offences that might have been committed; the identification of their perpetrators; the collection of evidence, the receipt of information and complaints concerning offences; the immediate entry of their details in a special register; their investigation and the collection of information thereon, immediate notification of the competent examining official; a visit to the scene of the incident in order to carry out the necessary inspection, preserve the evidence and remaining traces of the offence and note all details pertaining thereto; endeavors to identify the perpetrators and their accomplices, implementation of the measures required by the circumstances; and collection of all the presumptive evidence, proof and clarifications needed to facilitate the task of the competent examining official by, inter alia, questioning the suspect and recording his statements and the statements of any other persons involved in the incident (art. 8 of the Schedule).
All the measures taken by criminal investigation officers must be recorded in written reports, which are handed to the examining official, if he is present, or transmitted to the Department within three days from the time of the suspect's arrest. On receiving the reports, the examining official must take the following measures:
These reports, prepared by criminal investigation officers on the basis of their observations during the discharge of their duty, are deemed to be correct failing proof to the contrary (art. 8, para. 2., of the Schedule).
(d) Accountability of criminal investigation officers
In principle, a criminal investigation officer is accountable for any abuse of authority that he might commit, particularly if his acts affect the rights and freedoms of individuals.
Under the regulations, a criminal investigation officer must refrain from any act prejudicial to professional honor or to the dignity of others. He must observe the rules of propriety in his dealings with the public and carry out his duties in a meticulous and honest manner within the limits of the law and the instructions given to him. Criminal investigation officers are prohibited from abusing their official authority or exploiting their influence and they are liable to disciplinary sanctions in respect of any infractions that they might commit during the discharge of their duty. They can be called to account if necessary, and, to this end, the Public Investigation and Prosecution Department may request the competent authority to investigate anyone suspected of committing a breach or dereliction of his duty, without prejudice to any criminal action that might be brought against him.
Decree No. 43 of 1377 H (AD 1975) prescribes severe penalties for anyone who exploits his official influence for personal benefit, arbitrarily violates the personal rights of citizens or, in his official capacity, subjects them to ill-treatment or coercion by, inter alia, committing acts of torture or brutality, confiscating their property, violating their personal freedoms or entering their homes in an unlawful or irregular manner.
Section XXV of the Statutes of the Directorate of Public Security specifies the types of violations that might be committed by criminal investigation officers and prescribes penalties for any public official who causes a person to be harmed or arrested unlawfully, who forces his way into a person's home without a valid reason or in circumstances other than those in which such is permitted by law, or who treats people in a tough or harsh manner.
Article 28 of the Prison and Detention Regulations prohibits all forms of aggression against prisoners or detainees and makes provision for disciplinary measures against civilian and military officials who commit any act of aggression against a prisoner or detainee, without prejudice to any criminal penalties to which they might be liable.
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