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II. Judicial Standards and Principles
 
  2.5 General Principles of Discovery and Investigation  
  Article 35-General principles of discovery and investigation  
35.1 General principles of both Civil and Criminal discovery and investigation  
  The general principles of discovery and investigation apply to both Civil and Criminal investigation in the first part:  
  (1) Investigation and discovery before court proceedings  
  Generally in both Civil and Criminal proceedings, it is expected that virtually all investigation and discovery of evidence and/or particulars have been completed prior to the matter being first heard as either a trial or a hearing in Court.  
  (2) Full disclosure between parties before court proceedings  
  Generally in both Civil and Criminal proceedings, it is required that both parties share full disclosure as to their evidence, witnesses and positions prior to the matter being first heard as either a trial or a hearing in Court.  
  Failure to disclose information, evidence and/or witnesses may lead to such evidence being disqualified from submission during proceedings. The deliberate withholding of evidence itself is a criminal offence.  
  (3) Opportunity to research, review and respond to discovery during proceedings  
  Where discovery does occur during a court proceedings, it is generally required that the other party has both the time and opportunity to review and respond in a fair time.  
35.2 The importance of the 1st interview  
  Historical evidence of all criminal matters suggests that the first few hours directly following an alleged offence are the most important concerning any criminal investigation both in terms of forensic evidence and interview of alleged suspects.  
  However, under the restrictions placed by many justice systems, there is no incentive, nor requirement for alleged suspects to either answer questions put forward to them by investigators, nor even to answer truthfully.  
  As a result, the cost of administering justice, the time in pursuing criminal matters and the delays in bringing matters before the courts are all delayed and more expensive.  
  Under this code of Justice, the 1st interview of any suspect becomes the single most important investigative tool of law enforcement officials apart from forensic investigations in that:  
  (a) by law, all suspects are required to answer questions and tell the truth; and  
  (b) the focus of the 1st interview is to establish quickly the facts of the matter and to prevent any ongoing crime; and  
  (c) the 1st interview enables law enforcement officials the power to bring criminal matters quickly to indictment.  
     
 
 

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