When do you caution

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You could not be signed in, please check and try again. Sign in with your library card Please enter your library card number. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. The suspect's responses to questions put to him during an interview under caution conducted in accordance with PACE Code C may be used as evidence against him in any subsequent criminal proceedings. Evidence obtained during the interview can only be used against the person being questioned; it cannot be used in evidence against another person for example, a co-defendant or the company where the suspect is an employee , although it may suggest additional lines of enquiry for the investigators to pursue.

A conversation will constitute an interview if a suspect is being asked to incriminate himself. A single question may be sufficient to constitute an interview. How should an interview under caution be recorded?

An accurate record must be made of every interview with a person suspected of an offence. The record must state the place of the interview, the time it begins and ends, the time the record is made if different , any breaks in the interview and the names of all those present.

The record must be made on forms provided for this purpose or in the investigator's note book, or in accordance with the code of practice for the audio recording of interviews with suspects see Home Office: PACE Code E. Interviews may be recorded using any removable, physical audio recording medium that can be played and copied or on a secure digital recording network device paragraph 1. The tapes or CDs should be unwrapped and loaded into the machine in the sight of the suspect.

After the interview, one of the tapes or CDs will be sealed in the presence of the suspect and normally only opened in court. This is the master recording. The second recording will be used as a working copy. The legal representative of the suspect should ask for a copy of the tape or CD at the end of the interview. Each police station will have arrangements for tape or CD security and the master recording should be kept securely. It is essential that the representative has a copy of the tape for case preparation, agreeing edited transcripts and so on.

The suspect will be asked to give his full name, address, date of birth and his National Insurance number if he has it. For voluntary interviews conducted by non-police investigators, the provision of legal advice is set out by the Legal Aid Agency in the Standard Crime Contract Specification.

The rules mean that a non-police interviewer who does not have their own statutory power of arrest would have to inform a suspect that they have a right to seek legal advice if they wish, but payment would be a matter for them to arrange with the solicitor.

At the end of the interview you will be asked to sign an adhesive paper seal, which will be used to seal one of the recording media. Can a company suspected of committing a criminal offence be interviewed under caution? Where an organisation or company is invited to attend an interview under caution, the company will be asked to nominate a person to attend the interview to answer questions on its behalf.

Where the person being interviewed has been nominated to speak on behalf of a company in effect that person is the company for the purposes of the interview under caution , the investigators may wish to satisfy themselves that the person has the authority to answer questions on behalf of the company. That authority can only be granted by the board. The nominated person attending may be asked to bring their written authorisation so that it can be referred to in the interview.

The Police and Criminal Evidence Act sets out the powers and duties of the police and other investigators in respect of the investigation of offences. It also sets out the rights of suspects and the admissibility of evidence. The Act is supported by Codes of Practice, which set out the standards to be applied when exercising and carrying out the relevant powers and duties.

Code C covers the requirements for the treatment and questioning of suspects. Persons other than police officers who are charged with the duty of investigating offences or charging offenders are under a duty to have regard to any relevant provisions of the Codes of Practice section 67 of the Act. Download our bustcard.

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