Eighteen years after laws to modernise the arrest, interrogation and siezure of evidence procedures were enacted in the United Kingdom, Government have tabled a bill similar to the UK's Police and Criminal Evidence Act.

If passed Police may soon have stricter rules in how they are allowed to deal with persons detained or brought in for questioning. Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety Minister Terry Lister - whose portfolio includes the Police Service - tabled The Police Amendment Act 2003 during debate on his ministry in the House of Assembly yesterday.

The Bill sets out new procedures governing the treatment and rights of anyone Police detain and also makes clear when officers are allowed to take fingerprints and other tissue samples.

The Bill comes as direct result of one of the main recommendations by the Commission of Inquiry into Serious Crimes in late 2000.

The Commissioners, Guyanese judge Stanley Moore, British cop Don Dovaston and Bermudian lawyer Shirley Simmons, said PACE should be the "highest priority" and there was an "urgent need for a critical look at existing legislation", particularly on how suspects and accused people are treated while in custody.

Police came in for a close examination with the Commissioners remarking it had a "clear impression that an immediate need for a change to the culture of the service is highly desirable".

PACE completely revamped the powers police in the UK had to arrest, search and seize and also set new rules for the way detainees could be questioned and treated.

Mr. Lister held that the proposed Bill "will help significantly" with ensuring that people who commit serious crimes are brought to justice as it will "significantly enhance the Bermuda Police Service's ability to build cases..".

According to the Minister the Bill also paves the way for Orders for the conduct of certain procedures, such as identity parades.

He said that Government has taken the Commission's recommendations seriously and that the Bill "completes the picture".

"The Bermuda Police Service has worked constantly on the recommendation contained in the report since it was presented and I can report that over 90 percent of those recommendations have been complied with and work is ongoing on the rest," he said.

Police Commissioner Jonathan Smith is off the Island was unavailable for comment last night and the Bermuda Police Association declined comment saying it had not yet had a chance to review the Bill.

If enacted the Police Amendment Act of 2003 will cover when and how an inmate can be searched, how a detailed record of that person's belongings is to be recorded and ensuring that a detained person can exercise the right to inform someone of their whereabouts.

Also a responsible adult must be made aware of a child's arrest.

PACE limits when Police can demand a fingerprint and body tissue samples and when they must get consent - and when fingerprints and samples must be destroyed. In addition PACE allows for a person to witness the destruction of that evidence.

The current practice of identity parades in which the victim of a crime must face the participants of a lineup will disappear. Although Police have developed new procedures in line with PACE - the procedures need "legislative authority", Mr. Lister said.

The amendment also sets out the rights of a detained person to consult a lawyer "as soon as practicable" - although a senior policeman may authorise a delay.

The Governor will be authorised to establish a code of practice for Police for the treatment, questioning and identification of detained people.