3.4 The Defendant's Statement (Pratibadiko Bayan)

The purpose: the accused's own recorded version — taken by the court (the trial's stage) or during the investigation. The anatomy: the accused's identification; the statement's recording in the accused's own words (the question-and-answer or the narrative form; the interpreter where needed); the charge's denial or the explanation (the alibi, the justification, the counter-version — the defences first stated here); the signature or the thumb impression (the refusal's record); the recording officer's authentication. Craft rules: the statement is the ACCUSED's, not the officer's composition — the leading and the tutored statement the classic illegality; the voluntariness the discipline (the tortured statement's exclusion jurisprudence — LAW 401's companion); the accused's right not to self-incriminate (the statement's limits — Article 20(7)'s face).