Collection and seizure of information
Article 24:
Search for and arrest of criminal offenders and collection of information and evidence necessary for the investigation and indictment shall be undertaken by criminal investigation officers.
Article 25:
Criminal investigation officers shall, in conducting their duties as provided for in this Law, be subject to the supervision of the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution. This Bureau may ask the competent authority to consider any violation or omission by any such officer and may request that disciplinary action be taken against him, without prejudice to the right to initiate criminal prosecution.
Article 26:
The proceedings relating to criminal investigation shall be conducted by the following persons, each within his jurisdiction:
(1) Members of the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution within their
jurisdiction.
(2) Directors of police and their assistants in the various provinces, counties, and districts.
(3) Public security officers, secret service officers, passport officers, intelligence officers, civil defense officers, prison directors and officers, border guard officers, special security forces officers, national guard officers and military officers, each in accordance with their specified duties with respect to crimes committed within their respective jurisdictions.
(4) Heads of counties and chiefs of districts.
(5) Captains of Saudi ships and airplanes, with respect to crimes committed on board.
(6) Heads of centers of the Bureau for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, with respect to matters falling within their jurisdiction.
(7) Employees and other individuals who have powers of criminal investigation pursuant to special regulations.
(8) Entities, commissions and other persons who have been assigned to conduct an investigation pursuant to the regulations.
Article 27:
Criminal investigation officers shall, each within his jurisdiction, accept notifications and complaints communicated to them with respect to all crimes, conduct the investigation, collect relevant information in the form of records that shall be signed by them, summarize and date the same in a special register, and promptly notify the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution. The criminal investigation officers shall move to the crime scene to maintain its integrity and seize all that may be relevant to the crime, reserve evidence, and take whatever action required under the circumstances. He shall enter these matters in
Article 28:
During the process of collection of evidence, the criminal investigation officer shall hear statements of those who may possess information with respect to facts and perpetrators of crimes, question any suspect, and enter the same in the relevant records. They may seek the assistance of experts, including physicians, and seek their advice in writing.
Chapter IV
Search of Persons and Dwellings Article 40:
The privacy of persons, their dwellings, offices, and vehicles shall be protected. The privacy of a person protects his body, clothes, property, and belongings. The privacy of a dwelling covers any fenced area or any other place enclosed within barriers or intended to be used as a dwelling.
Article 41:
A criminal investigation officer may not enter or search any inhabited place except in the cases provided for in the laws, pursuant to a search warrant specifying the reasons for the search, issued by the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution. However, other dwellings may be searched pursuant to a search warrant, specifying the reasons, issued by the Investigator. If the proprietor or the occupant of a dwelling refuses to allow the criminal investigation officer free access, or resists such entry, he may use all lawful means, as may be required in the circumstances, to enter that dwelling.
A dwelling may be entered in case of a request for help from within, or in case of a demolition, drowning, fire, or the like, or in hot pursuit of a perpetrator.
Article 42:
A criminal investigation officer may search the accused where it is lawful to arrest him, which may include his body, clothes, and belongings. If the accused is a female, the search shall be conducted by a female assigned by the criminal investigation officer.
Article 43:
In the case of flagrante delecto, a criminal investigation officer may search the dwelling of the accused and collect relevant items that may help determine the truth, if there is credible evidence that such items exist there.
Chapter III
Movement to the Scene, Inspection, Search, and Seizure of Items Connected with the Crime
Article 79:
When necessary, upon having been notified of a crime committed within his jurisdiction, the Investigator shall promptly move to the scene where that crime has been committed to carry out the necessary inspection before the effects of the crime have been removed, effaced, or altered.
Article 80:
Search of dwellings is an investigative act and shall not be conducted except pursuant to a statement of a person residing in the relevant dwelling, that he either committed a crime or participated therein or there was circumstantial evidence indicating that he was in possession of items relevant to that crime. The Investigator may search any place and seize any item which is likely to have been used in the commission of that crime or resulting therefrom and any other thing that may be useful in determining the truth including any document or weapon. In all cases, the Investigator shall prepare a record of that search, specifying the reasons therefor and the results thereof. However, dwellings shall not be entered or searched except as provided by law and pursuant to a search warrant issued by the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution.
Article 81:
The Investigator may search the accused; he may also search any other person if it appears on strong grounds that he is concealing certain things that may be useful in determining the truth. Such search is subject to the provisions of Article 42 herein.
Article 82:
Seizure of mail, publications, parcels, cables, telephone conversations, and other means of communication is subject to the provisions of Articles 55-61 herein.
Article 83:
Seized items shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of Article 49 herein.
Article 84:
The Investigator may not seize any piece of paper or document that has been delivered by the accused to his representative or attorney in connection with the performance of the service entrusted to him, nor the correspondence exchanged between them in the case.
Article 85:
If the Investigator obtains evidence that a certain person is in possession of items relevant to a crime that he is investigating, the Investigator shall ask the head of the relevant department to issue an order for the delivery of such items to the Investigator to enable him to inspect these items as circumstances may warrant.
Article 95:
The Investigator shall hear the statements of the witnesses called by the litigants unless he considers that their testimony would be useless. He may also hear statements from others whom he deems necessary with respect to the facts that may lead to the proof of the crime, its circumstances, and its attribution to the accused or his innocence.
Article 96:
The Investigator shall enter into the record full information about each witness, including the name of the witness, his surname, age, profession, nationality, place of residence and his relationship to the accused, the victim and the claimant of the private right of action.
Article 101:
When the accused appears for the first time for an investigation, the Investigator shall take down all his personal information and shall inform him of the offense of which he is charged. The Investigator shall record any statements the accused expresses about the accusation. The accused may be confronted with any other accused person or witness. After statements of the accused have been read to him,
1. States Parties shall, in accordance with the provisions of this Part and under procedures of national law, comply with requests by the Court to provide the following assistance in relation to investigations or prosecutions:
(a) The identification and whereabouts of persons or the location of items;
(b) The taking of evidence, including testimony under oath, and the production of evidence, including expert opinions and reports necessary to the Court;
(c) The questioning of any person being investigated or prosecuted;
(d) The service of documents, including judicial documents;
(e) Facilitating the voluntary appearance of persons as witnesses or experts before the Court;
(f) The temporary transfer of persons as provided in paragraph 7;
(g) The examination of places or sites, including the exhumation and examination of grave sites;
(h) The execution of searches and seizures;
(i) The provision of records and documents, including official records and documents;
(j) The protection of victims and witnesses and the preservation of evidence;
(k) The identification, tracing and freezing or seizure of proceeds, property and assets and instrumentalities of crimes for the purpose of eventual forfeiture, without prejudice to the rights of bona fide third parties; and
(l) Any other type of assistance which is not prohibited by the law of the requested State, with a view to facilitating the investigation and prosecution of crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court.
2. The Court shall have the authority to provide an assurance to a witness or an expert appearing before the Court that he or she will not be prosecuted, detained or subjected to any restriction of personal freedom by the Court in respect of any act or omission that preceded the departure of that person from the requested State.
3. Where execution of a particular measure of assistance detailed in a request presented under paragraph 1, is prohibited in the requested State on the basis of an existing fundamental legal principle of general application, the requested State shall promptly consult with the Court to try to resolve the matter. In the consultations, consideration should be given to whether the assistance can be rendered in another manner or subject to conditions. If after consultations the matter cannot be resolved, the Court shall modify the request as necessary.
4. In accordance with article 72, a State Party may deny a request for assistance, in whole or in part, only if the request concerns the production of any documents or disclosure of evidence which relates to its national security.
5. Before denying a request for assistance under paragraph 1 (l), the requested State shall consider whether the assistance can be provided subject to specified conditions, or whether the assistance can be provided at a later date or in an alternative manner, provided that if the Court or the Prosecutor accepts the assistance subject to conditions, the Court or the Prosecutor shall abide by them.
6. If a request for assistance is denied, the requested State Party shall promptly inform the Court or the Prosecutor of the reasons for such denial.
(a) The Court may request the temporary transfer of a person in custody for purposes of identification or for obtaining testimony or other assistance. The person may be transferred if the following conditions are fulfilled:
(i) The person freely gives his or her informed consent to the transfer; and
(ii) The requested State agrees to the transfer, subject to such conditions as that State and the Court may agree.
(b) The person being transferred shall remain in custody. When the purposes of the transfer have been fulfilled, the Court shall return the person without delay to the requested State.
(a) The Court shall ensure the confidentiality of documents and information, except as required for the investigation and proceedings described in the request.
(b) The requested State may, when necessary, transmit documents or information to the Prosecutor on a confidential basis. The Prosecutor may then use them solely for the purpose of generating new evidence.
(c) The requested State may, on its own motion or at the request of the Prosecutor, subsequently consent to the disclosure of such documents or information. They may then be used as evidence pursuant to the provisions of Parts 5 and 6 and in accordance with the Rules of Procedure and Evidence.
(i) In the event that a State Party receives competing requests, other than for surrender or extradition, from the Court and from another State pursuant to an international obligation, the State Party shall endeavour, in consultation with the Court and the other State, to meet both requests, if necessary by postponing or attaching conditions to one or the other request.
(ii) Failing that, competing requests shall be resolved in accordance with the principles established in article 90.
(b) Where, however, the request from the Court concerns information, property or persons which are subject to the control of a third State or an international organization by virtue of an international agreement, the requested States shall so inform the Court and the Court shall direct its request to the third State or international organization.
(a) The Court may, upon request, cooperate with and provide assistance to a State Party conducting an investigation into or trial in respect of conduct which constitutes a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court or which constitutes a serious crime under the national law of the requesting State.
(b)
(i) The assistance provided under subparagraph (a) shall include, inter alia:
a. The transmission of statements, documents or other types of evidence obtained in the course of an investigation or a trial conducted by the Court; and
b. The questioning of any person detained by order of the Court;
(ii) In the case of assistance under subparagraph (b) (i) a:
a. If the documents or other types of evidence have been obtained with the assistance of a State, such transmission shall require the consent of that State;
b. If the statements, documents or other types of evidence have been provided by a witness or expert, such transmission shall be subject to the provisions of article 68.
(c) The Court may, under the conditions set out in this paragraph, grant a request for assistance under this paragraph from a State which is not a Party to this Statute.
1. A request for other forms of assistance referred to in article 93 shall be made in writing. In urgent cases, a request may be made by any medium capable of delivering a written record, provided that the request shall be confirmed through the channel provided for in article 87, paragraph 1 (a).
2. The request shall, as applicable, contain or be supported by the following:
(a) A concise statement of the purpose of the request and the assistance sought, including the legal basis and the grounds for the request;
(b) As much detailed information as possible about the location or identification of any person or place that must be found or identified in order for the assistance sought to be provided;
(c) A concise statement of the essential facts underlying the request;
(d) The reasons for and details of any procedure or requirement to be followed;
(e) Such information as may be required under the law of the requested State in order to execute the request; and
(f) Any other information relevant in order for the assistance sought to be provided.
3. Upon the request of the Court, a State Party shall consult with the Court, either generally or with respect to a specific matter, regarding any requirements under its national law that may apply under paragraph 2 (e). During the consultations, the State Party shall advise the Court of the specific requirements of its national law.
4. The provisions of this article shall, where applicable, also apply in respect of a request for assistance made to the Court.