France orders police to advise suspects of their rights upon arrest PARIS -- France's highest constitutional court on Friday ordered that French police be stripped of their power to arrest ordinary suspects and interrogate them for 48 hours without bringing charges or reading them their rights. The landmark decision, handed down by the Constitutional Council, seemed to herald the end of an ancient but widely criticized practice that defense lawyers and rights advocates have long denounced as an invitation to abuse by police officers seeking to browbeat suspects into confessing. In focusing on suspects' rights, the council was bucking a hard-line anti-crime trend set by President Nicolas Sarkozy, a security-minded conservative who repeatedly has urged a tough approach to law enforcement. Hours before the ruling was announced, for instance, Sarkozy called for broadening minimum sentences and stripping nationalized immigrants of their citizenship if they are convicted of attacking a police officer or government official.
PARIS -- France's highest constitutional court on Friday ordered that French police be stripped of their power to arrest ordinary suspects and interrogate them for 48 hours without bringing charges or reading them their rights.
The landmark decision, handed down by the Constitutional Council, seemed to herald the end of an ancient but widely criticized practice that defense lawyers and rights advocates have long denounced as an invitation to abuse by police officers seeking to browbeat suspects into confessing.
In focusing on suspects' rights, the council was bucking a hard-line anti-crime trend set by President Nicolas Sarkozy, a security-minded conservative who repeatedly has urged a tough approach to law enforcement. Hours before the ruling was announced, for instance, Sarkozy called for broadening minimum sentences and stripping nationalized immigrants of their citizenship if they are convicted of attacking a police officer or government official.
This has been one of the nastiest trends of the past several years. With all the tough law'n'order push by Sarkozy (as Minister for the Interior for almost 5 years, and then as President), one of the things that has happened is that police has an increasing feeling of impunity, and have been behaving increasingly badly towards citizens (of course with a special preference to being nasty to darkies).
This is unlikely to change that long term trend on its own, but it's still a major decision. Wind power
We have all watched American police or legal dramas - whether in the original version or dubbed or subtitled - and we are all familiar with and could probably recite the warning a police officer gives to a suspect as he is being handcuffed. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law," the cop says to the villain. "You have the right to speak to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?" ... On Tuesday, the European Commission proposed that a common warning about an equivalent set of rights, but in written form in equally simple language - and in the suspect's own tongue - be adopted across Europe.
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law," the cop says to the villain. "You have the right to speak to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?"
...
On Tuesday, the European Commission proposed that a common warning about an equivalent set of rights, but in written form in equally simple language - and in the suspect's own tongue - be adopted across Europe.
Supreme Court backs off strict enforcement of Miranda rights [2 June 2010] The Supreme Court backed off Tuesday [1 June 2010] from strict enforcement of its historic Miranda decision, ruling that a crime suspect's words can be used against him if he fails to clearly tell police that he does not want to talk. In the past, the court said the "burden rests on the government" to show that a crime suspect had "knowingly and intelligently waived" his rights. Some police departments tell officers not to begin questioning until a suspect has waived his rights, usually by signing a waiver form. But in Tuesday's 5-4 decision, the court shifted the balance in favor of the police, saying a suspect has a duty to speak up and say he does not want to talk. Moreover, the police are "not required to obtain a waiver" of the suspect's "right to remain silent before interrogating him," Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote. Read more...
[2 June 2010] The Supreme Court backed off Tuesday [1 June 2010] from strict enforcement of its historic Miranda decision, ruling that a crime suspect's words can be used against him if he fails to clearly tell police that he does not want to talk. In the past, the court said the "burden rests on the government" to show that a crime suspect had "knowingly and intelligently waived" his rights. Some police departments tell officers not to begin questioning until a suspect has waived his rights, usually by signing a waiver form. But in Tuesday's 5-4 decision, the court shifted the balance in favor of the police, saying a suspect has a duty to speak up and say he does not want to talk. Moreover, the police are "not required to obtain a waiver" of the suspect's "right to remain silent before interrogating him," Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote.
Read more...
Related commentary: 08-1470 Berghuis v. Thompkins, wiki pdf, majority opinion ACS Panel Discussion: Miranda's Future, podcast, ENG Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
This is not the first time the Council has thrown a spanner in Sarkozy's works (complete list here in French), and it is expected that the infamous "burqa law" will also undergo similar treatment.
Get ready for for renewed talks of "judicial activism" from the UMP quarters and its corporate press. Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.
