Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

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DEFENCE FORCE DISCIPLINE ACT 1982 - SECT 101E

Access to friend, relative and legal practitioner

  (1)   Subject to section   101G, if a person is in custody in respect of a service offence, an investigating officer concerned in the investigation of the offence must, before starting to question the person, inform the person that he or she may:

  (a)   communicate, or attempt to communicate, with a friend or relative to inform that person of his or her whereabouts; and

  (b)   communicate, or attempt to communicate, with a legal practitioner of the person's choice and arrange, or attempt to arrange, for a legal practitioner of the person's choice to be present during the questioning;

and the investigating officer must defer the questioning for a reasonable time to allow the person to make, or attempt to make, the communication and, if the person has arranged for a legal practitioner to be present, to allow the legal practitioner to attend the questioning.

  (2)   Subject to section   101G, if a person in custody in respect of a service offence wishes to communicate with a friend, relative or legal practitioner, the investigating officer holding the person in custody must:

  (a)   as soon as practicable, give the person reasonable facilities to enable the person to do so; and

  (b)   in the case of a communication with a legal practitioner--allow the legal practitioner or a clerk of the legal practitioner to communicate with the person in circumstances in which, as far as practicable, the communication will not be overheard.

  (3)   Subject to section   101G, if a person in custody in respect of a service offence arranges for a legal practitioner to be present during the questioning, the investigating officer holding the person in custody must:

  (a)   allow the person to consult with the legal practitioner in private and provide reasonable facilities for that consultation; and

  (b)   allow the legal practitioner to be present during the questioning and to give advice to the person, but only while the legal practitioner does not unreasonably interfere with the questioning.



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