Criminal Procedure I

SEARCH
Preserve

OBJECTI
VE

Discovery

Freeze

(Search)
Body/Person
Premise (object/things/documents/evidence)
-

Arrest is the first stage in the criminal justice process if the suspect is just arrested for the
purposes of investigation. (arrest and investigate later first stage)

After arrest
Search and
Seizure

Incidenceof
search by police
officer
Subsequent to
that, items will
be seized
Pending to court
proceedings

Subject to the principal of relevancy/admissibility, it will be produced in court as

evidence.

Suspect arrested will be charged in court.

INVESTIGATION OF CRIMES
1. Report received by a police officer at the police station
Commonly referred to as a police report or FIR (first information report)
Sec.107 of CPC information received by the police at the police station either
for a seizable offence or non-seizable offence.
Chapter 13 of CPC
2. Information lodged by the informant/complainant will relate to the commission of the
criminal offence.
3. Must be marked with the date/time received the report and it has to be in writing.
4. Police officer at the police station is duty bound to receive any information to any offence
committed anywhere in the country.

5. FIR (why it is referred to first information report?)

It is an information made before police investigation has commenced
Police information commences before arrest take place

PURPOSE OF FIR

Gives the
police notice
of the
commission of
an offence.

The FIR is the

basis/foundati
on upon which
an
investigation
will
commence.

(1) PP v

Mohamad
Musa bin
Amarullah,
(2)Nazir
Ahmah AIR
1945 (PC) 80.

Either a complaint/accusation given by the complainant with a n object of initiating

investigation by a police. (Gansa 1923)

The informant/complainant can be charged if he lodges a fake report or ifthe investigation

reviews no offence committed by the susoect but an offence is committed by the
complainant itself. (Anwar Ibrahim (1999) 2 MLJ 1)

Once the FIR is received, the FIR may be inspected by the persons accused of the offence
(suspect)

The suspect has access to the FIR and a copy of the report must be supplied to the suspect
upon request.

WHY? Because, the suspect needs to know the allegation against him. Law recognizes he
has got a tangible interest in that report. (right to access in the police report)
Anthony Gomez (1977) 2 MLJ 24

The FIR is admissible as evidence in a court of law. (Sec.108 of CPC)

The FIR does not form part of the substantive evidence but it can only be used either for
purposes of contradiction (Sec.105 EA) or corroboration (Sec.157 EA).

EXAMPLE:
Complainant or victim of a rape lodges a police report against the rapist. After lodging it does not
mean the complainant need not attend court. The complainant must attend court because the
report she lodged cannot be a substitute for an oral evidence. She must go to court to
justify/cross-examination.

PP v Mohd Terang bin Amit (1999) 1MLJ 154

Failure by the prosecution to tender the FIR is not fatal unless the only piece of
corroborative evidence is the FIR.

If the only piece of the corroborative evidence is the FIR, then the FIR shall be produced
in court as corroborative evidence otherwise the prosecution may be faulted for
withholding evidence, which can be fatal to the prosecutions case because the defence
will invite the court to draw an adverse inference against the prosecution under
Sec.114(g) of EA.

(Way out)

Prosecution must be able to explain to the court the reasons as to why the FIR is not
rendered.
Tan Cheng Kuui v PP (1970) 2 MLJ 115

Foong Chee Cheong (1970) 1 MLJ 97 (illustrates that the non-tendering of FIR
will raise suspicion on the prosecutions case)

If the FIR is introduced in evidence, it can be used to cross-examine the complainant.

This is because the FIR in law is a premier statement made by that witness outside court.
(out of court statement)

On this issue, irrelevant errors/omission made by the complainant in the police report
cannot be given inflated importance.

For example, in a rape case, if the complainant cant remember what trousers the accused
was wearing. During FIR she described that he was wearing a red pants but he actually
wore white. (this issue is irrelevant)

Herchun Singh v PP (1969) 2 MLJ 209

The court should not be concerned that the complainant didnt mention facts which were
irrelevant to the offence.

If however there are material discrepancies between the report (FIR) (P1) and the
complainants (PW1) testimony in court.

Then the report will normally be used by the defence to cross-examine or impeach the
credit and credibility of the complainant.

INVESTIGATION IN NON-SEIZABLE CASES

Sec.108 CPC (First schedule-seizable/non-seizable)

Information received by police (FIR)

Relates to a non-seizable offence
Police must commence investigation
Police may refer the complainant to the magistrate for purposes of private
summons proceedings.
Before the police commence investigation, the police officer must/shall obtain an
order to investigate (OTI) from the public prosecutor.
If a non-seizable investigation is commenced without an OTI and the accused has
to be produced in court, prosecuted and convicted by the court, the conviction
will still be safe because the absence of the OTI does not affect the jurisdiction of
the court trying the accused person who has committed to the criminal offence.

PP v Seridaran (1984) 1MLJ 141

EXCEPTION
However, failure on the part of the police officer to obtain an OTI, any witness
when giving a statement to the police, a witness in the statement is not bound to
answer any questions put to him by the police officer truthfully.
Anthony v PP (1958) MLJ 148