Cap. 9 Art. 355AUCThe right to have a third person informed of the deprivation of liberty.

(1) Suspects or accused persons who are deprived of liberty shall be informed, without undue delay, by the Executive

Police or by any other enforcement or judicial authority, that they have the right to have at least one person, such as a relative or an employer or any other person of their choice, nominated by them, informed of their deprivation of liberty without undue delay if they so wish, unless such other person is reasonably suspected of being involved in the offence being investigated. A record shall be kept of the manner in which the Executive Police or other law enforcement or judicial authority concerned has discharged its duty under this article.

(2) If the suspect or accused person is a child, at least one person having parental authority, tutorship, curatorship or guardianship in respect of the child shall be informed as soon as possible of the deprivation of liberty and of the reasons therefor, unless it would be contrary to the best interests of the child to do so, in which case another appropriate adult shall be informed. For the purposes of this article, a person below the age of eighteen years shall be considered to be a child.

(3) In all cases, the details of the person mentioned in sub-article (1) or of the holder of parental authority, tutorship, curatorship or guardianship over the child mentioned in sub-article

(2) as well as the day and time at which the information was given to such person or holder of parental or other authority as aforesaid, shall be entered in the detention record of the suspect or in the record of the proceedings of the person accused, as the case may be.

(4) It shall be permissible to temporarily derogate from the application of the rights set out in sub-articles (1) and (2) where justified in the light of the particular circumstances of the case, on the basis of one of the following compelling reasons:

(a) where there is an urgent need to avert serious adverse consequences for the life, liberty or physical integrity of a person;

(b) where there is an urgent need to prevent a situation where criminal proceedings could be substantially jeopardised:

Provided that in any such case, the delay shall not be later than six hours from the time when the arrest was effected.

(5) Where a derogation from the application of the right set out in sub-article (2) is made, the Executive Police or other law enforcement or judicial authority concerned shall ensure that an authority responsible for the protection or welfare of children, as designated from time to time by the Minister responsible for Justice by order in the Gazette, is informed without undue delay of the deprivation of liberty of the child.