The Suspicion and Evidence Collection Stage according to the Omani Penal Procedures Code 1999: Critical Analysis

Abstract

There is a global beliefthat any action taken at the suspicion and evidence collection stage should not touch people’s freedoms or their home’s sanctity. Police’s role should be limited to collecting information or listening to the suspect’s statements, answers, and replies. This stage should mainly involve clarifications about the crime. Actions affecting personal freedom, such as arrest and search, can only be carried out by police in the case that an arrest order or a search warrant from the Public Prosecution is issued. Nevertheless, Article 30 of the Penal Procedures Code has defined the job of judicial officers in a very broad and vague sense. It states that judicial officers have to investigate crimes and the perpetrators of these crimes, collect evidence, and carry out the necessary examinations which facilitate the investigation process, and that they must take all necessary procedures to preserve any evidence related to the crime.