NCJ Number
99120
Date Published
1985
Length
50 pages
Annotation
This report by Canada's Law Reform Commission recommends guidelines for the statutory regulation of evidence collection from the suspect's person.
Abstract
The basic issue addressed by the commission concerns the role that accused persons or suspects should be required to play in obtaining information that may subsequently be used to incriminate them. The commissions's recommendations are based in three propositions. First, certain investigative procedures which inherently and abusively violate a person's privacy should be prohibited in all circumstances. Following this principle, the commission recommends prohibiting the administration of any substance to the subject (such as truth drugs, emetics, and enemas), the use of any surgical procedures that punctures human skin or tissue, the use of any procedure intended to remove stomach contents, and the use of any procedure intended to produce a pictorial representation of any internal body part. Second, other investigative procedures involving the person's body should be permitted only when the subject has clearly consented. Third, persons should be required to submit to a limited number of investigative procedures involving their bodies and only under clearly defined circumstances. In applying this latter principle, the commission recommends prior judicial authorization. Essential to the commissions's proposed regime is the recommendation that compliance with the rules be enforced by making improperly obtained forensic evidence presumptively inadmissible (a general reversal of the present law). A total of 152 footnotes are provided.