Discussions by the Legislative Council on electronic recording of interrogations of suspects in criminal cases have dragged on for 2½ years without a conclusion. Police and prosecution officials remain opposed to the mandatory recording of the process because they view it as hindering an investigation tool.
Opponents need to recognize the fact that a number of people have been falsely charged after being interrogated behind closed doors, where there are no objective means of verifying whether they have been questioned in appropriate ways.
Members of the Legislative Council, which is an advisory panel to the justice minister, have been sharply divided from the beginning of the discussions that started in June 2011. Lawyers and other experts called for audiovisual recording of the entire interrogation process while senior police and prosecution officials insisted that such recordings should be limited.