LESSON 3.

LEGAL SAFEGUARDS
OF PERSON UNDER CUSTODIAL
INVESTIGATION
CDI 3. SPECIALIZED CRIME INVESTIGATION
 ARTICLE III
BILL OF RIGHTS
Section 1. No person shall be deprived
of life, liberty, or property without due
process of law, nor shall any person be
denied the equal protection of the laws.
 Section 12. (1) Any person under investigation for the commission of an
offense shall have the right to be informed of his right to remain silent
and to have competent and independent counsel preferably of his own
choice. If the person cannot afford the services of counsel, he must be
provided with one. These rights cannot be waived except in writing and
in the presence of counsel.
(2) No torture, force, violence, threat, intimidation, or any other means
which vitiate the free will shall be used against him. Secret detention
places, solitary, incommunicado, or other similar forms of detention are
prohibited.
(3) Any confession or admission obtained in violation of this or Section 17
hereof shall be inadmissible in evidence against him.
(4) The law shall provide for penal and civil sanctions for violations of this
section as well as compensation to and rehabilitation of victims of torture
or similar practices, and their families.
 Republic Act No. 7438
AN ACT DEFINING CERTAIN RIGHTS OF PERSON ARRESTED, DETAINED OR UNDER CUSTODIAL
INVESTIGATION AS WELL AS THE DUTIES OF THE ARRESTING, DETAINING AND INVESTIGATING
OFFICERS, AND PROVIDING PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS THEREOF:

Section 1. Statement of Policy. – It is the policy of the Senate to value the dignity of every human being and
guarantee full respect for human rights.
Section 2. Rights of Persons Arrested, Detained or Under Custodial Investigation; Duties of Public Officers. –
(a) Any person arrested detained or under custodial investigation shall at all times be assisted by
counsel.
(b) Any public officer or employee, or anyone acting under his order or his place, who arrests, detains or
investigates any person for the commission of an offense shall inform the latter, in a language known to
and understood by him, of his rights to remain silent and to have competent and independent counsel,
preferably of his own choice, who shall at all times be allowed to confer privately with the person
arrested, detained or under custodial investigation. If such person cannot afford the services of his own
counsel, he must be provided with a competent and independent counsel by the investigating officer.
 c) The custodial investigation report shall be reduced to writing by the investigating officer, provided that before
such report is signed, or thumbmarked if the person arrested or detained does not know how to read and write, it
shall be read and adequately explained to him by his counsel or by the assisting counsel provided by the
investigating officer in the language or dialect known to such arrested or detained person, otherwise, such
investigation report shall be null and void and of no effect whatsoever.
 (d) Any extrajudicial confession made by a person arrested, detained or under custodial investigation shall be in
writing and signed by such person in the presence of his counsel or in the latter's absence, upon a valid waiver, and
in the presence of any of the parents, elder brothers and sisters, his spouse, the municipal mayor, the municipal
judge, district school supervisor, or priest or minister of the gospel as chosen by him; otherwise, such extrajudicial
confession shall be inadmissible as evidence in any proceeding.
 (e) Any waiver by a person arrested or detained under the provisions of Article 125 of the Revised Penal Code, or
under custodial investigation, shall be in writing and signed by such person in the presence of his counsel; otherwise
the waiver shall be null and void and of no effect.
 (f) Any person arrested or detained or under custodial investigation shall be allowed visits by or conferences with
any member of his immediate family, or any medical doctor or priest or religious minister chosen by him or by any
member of his immediate family or by his counsel, or by any national non-governmental organization duly
accredited by the Commission on Human Rights of by any international non-governmental organization duly
accredited by the Office of the President. The person's "immediate family" shall include his or her spouse, fiancé or
fiancée, parent or child, brother or sister, grandparent or grandchild, uncle or aunt, nephew or niece, and guardian
or ward.
 MIRANDA DOCTRINE
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say
can be used against you in court. You have the right to
talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any
questions. You have the right to have a lawyer with you
during questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one
will be appointed for you before any questioning if you
wish. If you decide to answer questions now without a
lawyer present, you have the right to stop answering at
any time.”
What is Custodial
Investigation?
 Our Supreme Court consistently defines custodial investigation as
the stage where an investigation is no longer a general inquiry into
an unsolved crime but has begun to focus on a particular suspect
taken into custody by the police or other law enforcement agents
who carry out a process of interrogation that lends itself to elicit
incriminating statements. It involves questioning initiated by law
enforcement officers after a person has been taken into custody or
deprived of freedom of action in any significant way.
 Custodial investigation is always the consequence of an arrest.
Someone can be considered to be under custodial investigation
when invited for questioning by law enforcement officers, even
though the person has not been formally arrested.
 What are the Effects of, and Sanctions
for, Violation of these Rights?
 If the constitutional rights of a person under custodial
investigation are violated, there are corresponding penal and
civil sanctions, as well as compensation to and rehabilitation
of victims of torture or similar practices, and their families.
These sanctions are provided for in different statutes, civil
sanctions, in the form of damages, covered by Article 32 of
the New Civil Code, and penal sanctions covered by the
penal clause of Republic Act No. 7438, where a fine, penalty,
or both, may be imposed upon an erring officer.
 REPUBLIC ACT NO. 386
AN ACT TO ORDAIN AND INSTITUTE THE CIVIL
CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES
Article 32. Any public officer or employee, or any private individual, who directly or indirectly
obstructs, defeats, violates or in any manner impedes or impairs any of the following rights and
liberties of another person shall be liable to the latter for damages:
(1) Freedom of religion;
(2) Freedom of speech;
(3) Freedom to write for the press or to maintain a periodical publication;
(4) Freedom from arbitrary or illegal detention;
(5) Freedom of suffrage;
(6) The right against deprivation of property without due process of law;
(7) The right to a just compensation when private property is taken for public use;
(8) The right to the equal protection of the laws;
(9) The right to be secure in one's person, house, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches
and seizures;
(10) The liberty of abode and of changing the same;
(11) The privacy of communication and correspondence;
(12) The right to become a member of associations or societies for purposes not
contrary to law;
(13) The right to take part in a peaceable assembly to petition the Government
for redress of grievances;
(14) The right to be a free from involuntary servitude in any form;
(15) The right of the accused against excessive bail;
(16) The right of the accused to be heard by himself and counsel, to be informed
of the nature and cause of the accusation against him, to have a speedy and
public trial, to meet the witnesses face to face, and to have compulsory process
to secure the attendance of witness in his behalf;
(17) Freedom from being compelled to be a witness against one's self, or from
being forced to confess guilt, or from being induced by a promise of immunity
or reward to make such confession, except when the person confessing becomes
a State witness;
(18) Freedom from excessive fines, or cruel and unusual punishment,
unless the same is imposed or inflicted in accordance with a statute which
has not been judicially declared unconstitutional; and
(19) Freedom of access to the courts.
In any of the cases referred to in this article, whether or not the
defendant's act or omission constitutes a criminal offense, the aggrieved
party has a right to commence an entirely separate and distinct civil action
for damages, and for other relief. Such civil action shall proceed
independently of any criminal prosecution (if the latter be instituted), and
may be proved by a preponderance of evidence.
The indemnity shall include moral damages. Exemplary damages may also
be adjudicated.
The responsibility herein set forth is not demandable from a judge unless
his act or omission constitutes a violation of the Penal Code or other penal
statute.
 What are the Effects of, and Sanctions for,
Violation of these Rights?
Section 4. Penalty Clause. – (a) Any arresting public officer or employee, or any
investigating officer, who fails to inform any person arrested, detained or under custodial
investigation of his right to remain silent and to have competent and independent counsel
preferably of his own choice, shall suffer a fine of Six thousand pesos (P6,000.00) or a
penalty of imprisonment of not less than eight (8) years but not more than ten (10) years,
or both. The penalty of perpetual absolute disqualification shall also be imposed upon the
investigating officer who has been previously convicted of a similar offense.
The same penalties shall be imposed upon a public officer or employee, or anyone acting
upon orders of such investigating officer or in his place, who fails to provide a competent
and independent counsel to a person arrested, detained or under custodial investigation
for the commission of an offense if the latter cannot afford the services of his own counsel.
(b) Any person who obstructs, prevents or prohibits any lawyer, any
member of the immediate family of a person arrested, detained or under
custodial investigation, or any medical doctor or priest or religious minister
chosen by him or by any member of his immediate family or by his counsel,
from visiting and conferring privately with him, or from examining and
treating him, or from ministering to his spiritual needs, at any hour of the
day or, in urgent cases, of the night shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment
of not less than four (4) years nor more than six (6) years, and a fine of four
thousand pesos (P4,000.00).lawphi1©
The provisions of the above Section notwithstanding, any security officer
with custodial responsibility over any detainee or prisoner may undertake
such reasonable measures as may be necessary to secure his safety and
prevent his escape.