Participants of the fourth JustTalk meeting held on September 6 at Pravokator Law Club discussed the problem issues in the area of video-recording in police custody, as well as how they can be resolved.
“Recently, I came across one US study that demonstrates that the proper video-recording in police custody raises the public confidence in the police”, said panelist Serhiy Derkach, an expert of the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative.
A procedure used by the law enforcement authorities to record all actions relating to a detainee remains unchanged throughout the years. Despite a strikingly high number of paper registers (over dozen) kept by police officers on duties in police units, availability of IT officers and video surveillance cameras, and despite the regular external and internal audits, there are still problems in Ukraine with regard to observance of the rights of defense and proper treatment of detainees. The reason for this is a lack of clear guidelines to regulate the treatment of detained persons, or the lack of a procedure and/or protocol to guarantee the safety of the detained persons, as well as all other persons, who come into contact with detainees.
The results of the monitoring conducted by NGOs and the National Preventive Mechanism indicate that the video-audio-recording system is far from being perfect. Should the rights of detained persons be violated, or should the police officer be accused of the ill-treatment of persons detained, it would be extremely difficult to reproduce the events that happened to the detained person in police custody.
“If you look at this register… You are likely to find that the handwriting is not clear and not all fields are filled out, or the information may be missing in some of them. So the question is not how many fields there are in the questionnaire, but to make sure that the information provided is of high quality”, said Kateryna Yeroshenko, expert of the Ukrainian Legal Aid Foundation.
To avoid violations of the rights of persons detained or unjustified accusations against law enforcement officers, it is necessary to ensure that there is a thorough video-recording (audio-recording) system in place in police custody.
According to Andriy Tkachov, Assistant to the Head of the National Police of Ukraine, recording of detention is useful for the police.
“My task is simple and difficult at the same time. How to exercise police authority, while not limiting human rights? How can these two tasks be combined to ensure effective policing? How to ensure proper procedures for treatment of persons detained? ”- asked Andriy Tkachov.
It is the efficient video-recording system in police custody that makes it possible to reject baseless accusations against a police officer, and to motivate a police officer to strictly follow the law and procedures.
Ways to solve the problem:
Experts identified three ways to solve the problem:
1. Implementation of the standard “Proper registration of detention and recording all actions involving persons detained”, which includes:
A) recording time and place of actual detention;
B) recording all movements of persons detained in police custody;
C) recording all investigative and procedural actions involving persons detained (participants of such actions).
The standard has to be implemented by taking the following actions: appointment and training of officers responsible for treatment of detained persons; infrastructural changes in police departments to ensure the recording of all movements of persons detained; technical solutions, such as creation of a unified electronic database containing files of detained persons to record all actions, starting from the moment of his or her physical detention.
Victoria Rogalska, Associate Professor of Criminal Procedure Chair, Dnipropetrovsk State University of Internal Affairs, said the reason for the problem with video-recording in police custody is a lack of a coherent approach, as well as a lack of uniform practices in this area.
2. Extending the Custody Records system to include stages of a detainee’s actual detention, transfer and stay in the territorial police department
Міжнародний фонд “Відродження” впроваджує Custody Records в пілотному режимі з 2017 року. Наразі система працює на рівні Ізоляторів тимчасового тримання, проте це важливий досвід для апробації такої системи та вироблення бачення її розвитку та поширення з тим, щоб вона згодом охоплювала всі етапи перебування затриманої особи під контролем поліції.
Since 2017, the International Renaissance Foundation has been piloting the Custody Records system. At present, the system operates in Temporary Detention Centers, however, this has become an important experience to probe this system and develop suggestions for its further expansion so that it eventually covers all stages of police custody.
What does the Custody Records system provide for?
· Institute of officers responsible for persons detained – human rights inspectors;
· A unified electronic database for registering all actions;
· Permanent external online monitoring.
3. Amendments to the legislation of Ukraine in order to clearly identify the authorized officer conducting the detention; officers responsible for detained persons in territorial police departments; a uniform procedure for drawing up a report on detention; legal instruments regulating the Custody Records system Photo – Volodymyr Cheppel
Міжнародний фонд “Відродження” впроваджує Custody Records в пілотному режимі з 2017 року. Наразі система працює на рівні Ізоляторів тимчасового тримання, проте це важливий досвід для апробації такої системи та вироблення бачення її розвитку та поширення з тим, щоб вона згодом охоплювала всі етапи перебування затриманої особи під контролем поліції.
Що передбачає система Custody Records?
· Інститут службових осіб, відповідальних за затриманих – інспекторів з дотримання прав людини;
· Єдину електронну базу обліку всіх дій;
· Постійний зовнійшній контроль у режимі онлайн.
3. Внесення змін до законодавства України з метою чіткого визначення уповноваженої службової особи, яка здійснює затримання; особи відповідальної за затриманих на рівні територіального відділу поліції; єдиного алгоритму складання протоколу про затримання; підзаконного регулювання роботи системи Custody Records
Фото – Володимир Чеппель
