ABSTRACT
VCCR Article 36 says that a foreign national who is arrested or detained must be informed about consular access “without delay.” If a foreign national is not informed quickly, much of the benefit of consular access may be lost. The issue of timing is particularly relevant to situations in which police interrogate a foreign national shortly after arrest. If they do not, before interrogating, advise about consular access, and if an incriminating statement is then made, the foreign national may later seek to have the statement excluded from evidence. In such situations, it may have been the case that police were unaware of their obligation to advise about consular access. It is also possible that they were aware, but feared that informing about consular access might lead the foreign national to decline to be interrogated. The issue of suppression of statements, or of material evidence seized after arrest, is examined in Chapter 17. This chapter examines the timing requirement.
