Mohammad Aref Ahmadi
In this paper, the "rights
of the suspect during the investigative stage" have been examined using a
descriptive-analytical method. In the criminal justice system of Afghanistan,
inspired by global developments in criminal law, particularly the provisions
contained in international human rights documents, an independent stage of the
criminal process was established under scrutiny, and the suspect in this stage
was entitled to adequate defense rights. However, the pre-trial stage was not
recognized as an independent stage of the criminal process until the republican
era, and as a result, the suspect in this stage was deprived of defense rights.
It was only in the criminal laws enacted during the republican era that we
witnessed the extension of the accused's defense rights to the suspect and the
identification of a new stage called "preliminary investigation" or
"under supervision" in the criminal process. With this description,
the term "suspect" in Afghan legal literature has a long history,
drawing on Islamic legal literature, and its traces can be found even in the
earliest written laws. Although this term was not used in its current sense in
the aforementioned laws, it was used in its literal sense, meaning the accused.
However, according to the criminal laws of the republican era, judicial
officers could place the suspect under supervision in a facility called a
surveillance center for a maximum of 72 hours in ordinary crimes and a maximum
of 10 days in crimes against internal and external security and terrorist
crimes. After gathering sufficient evidence, they would send the suspect, who
enjoys all defense rights, along with the relevant dossier, for further
investigation and determination of fate to the relevant judicial authority.