Law

Permanent URI for this collection

http://41.63.25.24:4000/handle/123456789/294

Browse

Browsing Law by Author "Aongola, Saboi Henry"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The Zambia Police Service and its role in upholding the rights of Criminal Defendants
    (2013-10-22) Aongola, Saboi Henry
    The purpose of this Directed Research Paper is to examine the Zambia Police Service's role in upholding the rights of criminal defendants. Police officers occupy a position of great importance in the preservation of the basic human rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Zambia and must therefore, be effective instruments through which the rule of law is upheld. In an ideal situation, they should ensure that any incident of human rights abuse is effectively prevented and not themselves to perpetuate these abuses. In addition police officers must always exercise care and caution in the performance of their functions.The constitution of Zambia provides that any person charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed to be innocent until he is proved or has pleaded guilty. The Constitution further stresses that a criminal defendant shall be afforded a fair hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial court established by law. Therefore, to all intent and purposes, treatment must reflect just this. Alias, this is sadly not the case in most cases.This research paper comprises five chapters. Chapter one establishes an overview of the problems surrounding the Zambia Police Service and its role in upholding the rights of criminal defendants. Chapter two examines the Zambia Police's powers of arrest, detention, interrogation, search and seizures in the pre-trial procedure and during trial of the criminal defendant. The third chapter examines the Zambia Police's role in upholding the due process protections applicable to the trial stage of accused persons. Chapter four discusses the role of the Police Public Complaints Authority, Human Rights Commission, Anti-Corruption Commission, Legal Resource Foundation and Commission for investigations in ensuring that the Police uphold human rights. Finally, Chapter five is the conclusion of the entire research paper followed by recommendations.