Section 8:
(1) Any person suspected of having committed an offence shall be presumed innocent until his
guilt has been legally established in the course of a trial where he shall be given all necessary
guarantees for his defence.
(2) The presumption of innocence shall apply to every suspect, defendant and accused.

Section 19:
(1) A person arrested on a warrant shall be brought immediately before the Examining
Magistrate or the president of the trial court who issued the warrant, who may order his
immediate release if he fulfils any of the conditions referred to in section 246 (g).
(2)
(a) If he fails to fulfil the condition, he shall be taken immediately to the prison indicated on the
warrant subject to the provisions of sub-section (3) of this section.
(b) Within forty-eight (48) hours of the detention of the person, he shall be interrogated by the
Examining Magistrate or, as the case may be, at its next sitting by the trial court which
issued the warrant.
(3) The Examining Magistrate or the trial court shall decide on his detention in accordance with
sections 221 and 222.
(4) If the person is arrested outside the jurisdiction of the Examining Magistrate or of the trial
court that issued the warrant, he shall be immediately taken before the State Counsel of the
place of arrest who shall without delay, inform the Examining Magistrate or the president of the
court that issued the warrant of arrest about the arrest and the action taken thereafter and
shall request the transfer of the person arrested.

Section 31: Except in the case of a felony or misdemeanour committed flagrante delicto, the
person effecting the arrest shall disclose his identity and inform the person to be arrested of
the reason for the said arrest, and where necessary, allow a third person to accompany the
person arrested in order to ascertain the place to which he is being detained.

Section 37: Any person arrested shall be given reasonable facilities in particular to be in
contact with his family, obtain legal advice, make arrangements for his defence, consult a
doctor and receive medical treatment and take necessary steps to obtain his release on bail.

Section 116:
(1) Judicial police officers and agents shall carry out investigations either on their own initiative
or on the instructions of the State Counsel.
(2) The originals of the Police case files shall be forwarded to the State Counsel without delay.
(3) As soon as investigations are opened, the judicial police officer shall, under the penalty of
nullity, inform the suspect of:
- his right to counsel;
- his right to remain silent
(4) Mention of this information shall be made in the report

Section 122:
(1)
(a) The suspect shall immediately be informed of the allegations against him, and shall be
treated humanely both morally and materially.
(b) He shall be given reasonable time to rest fully in the course of the investigation.
(c) The period of rest shall be mentioned in the police report.
Courtesy of the Cameroon Center for Demoncracy and Human Rights – CCDHR: www.ccdhr.org 31
(2) The suspect shall not be subjected to any physical or mental constraints, or to torture,
violence, threats or any pressure whatsoever, or to deceit, insidious manoeuvres, false
proposals, prolonged questioning, hypnosis, the administration of drugs or to any other
method which is likely to compromise or limit his freedom of action or decision, or his memory
or sense of judgment.
(3) The person on remand may at anytime within the period of detention and during working
hours, be visited by his counsel, members of his family, and by any other person following up
his treatment while in detention.
4) The State shall be responsible for feeding persons remanded in police custody. However,
such persons shall have the right to receive from members of their families or from their
friends the means of subsistence and other necessaries.
(5) Whoever violates or fails to comply with the provisions of this section or prevents their
compliance with, shall be liable to prosecution without prejudice, where necessary, to
disciplinary sanctions.

Section 137:
(1) The State Counsel shall direct and control the operations of the officers and agents of the
judicial police.
(2) He may, at anytime, visit the police post or the gendarmerie brigade in order to verify the
conditions of persons in custody provided for in section 124 (3). In the course of such control,
the persons whose release he orders of his own motion or by virtue of an order of habeas
corpus, must immediately be set free, under pain of prosecution for unlawful detention against
the judicial police officers in charge of the police post or gendarmerie brigade where the
custody takes place.
(3) The State Counsel may, at any time and place act as a judicial police officer

Section 704: A minor of twelve (12) to fourteen (14) years of age shall not be remanded in
custody, except when he is accused of capital murder or of assault occasioning death

Section 706:
(1) Infants shall be detained only in:
- a Borstal institution;
- a special section of a prison meant for the detention of minors.
(2) Where there is no Borstal institution or special section of a prison, the infant may be
detained in a prison for adults but must be separated from them.