Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/13641
Title: Suspects’ rights in india: comparative law and the right to legal assistance as drivers for reform
Authors: Shah, Prejal
Advisors: Giannoulopoulos, D
Keywords: Suspects' rights;Criminal law;Comparative criminal justice;Police interrogation;Right to legal assistance
Issue Date: 2016
Publisher: Brunel University London
Abstract: This thesis revolves around a detailed examination of the procedural, cultural, and institutional framework of custodial interrogation in India, from a theoretical and practical perspective, and is informed by a strong empirical element in the form of interviews with related institutional parties. The intuition that underpinned this research was that custodial interrogation practices in India were in urgent need for reform, and significant evidence – in the form of appellate jurisprudence, criminal law scholarship and empirical research – will be presented to demonstrate this. Adopting an outward-looking frame of mind, this thesis concentrates on the use of comparative law methodologies as the most appropriate means for effectively seeking reform, with an emphasis on common law scholarship and jurisprudence – and the law of England and Wales in particular and on the emerging, seminal, jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights on applications of the right to fair trial at the custodial interrogation stage. Identifying fundamental flaws in the Indian framework of custodial interrogation, and a systemic failure from the part of the police to implement suspects’ rights, this thesis calls attention to the right to legal assistance as the only viable solution providing a realistic prospect of breaking the culture of police lawlessness at this critical stage of the criminal process. Modelled upon modern applications of the right to legal assistance in England and Wales, and radical Strasbourg-inspired reforms in other European jurisdictions, this solution – which emphasises the need for prior consultation with a lawyer and having a lawyer present during custodial interrogation – obtains particular comparative force and has therefore the capacity to exercise a strong appeal upon the Indian legislator.
Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London
URI: http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/13641
Appears in Collections:Law
Brunel Law School Theses

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