Record of Interview – Advice for Police Interviews

A Record of Interview forms part of a criminal investigation and people may be released without being charged. However, this does not mean that the police will not charge an accused person at a later stage.

Police members can charge people by way of a ‘summons’ to attend Court if they had not charged at the time of the interview. Alternatively, they can arrange a time for you to attend the police station to be placed on bail.

Legal representatives ask police questions prior to giving legal advice. It may be that the police officer will advise the legal representative that they will be charging the accused person. This assists with legal representatives giving people advice regarding answering questions.

Recent Bail Act changes have resulted in many criminal charges resulting in police remand applications.

Interpreters can be organised by Victoria Police to assist a person in a record of interview. However, there are some driving offences where interpreters do not need to be arranged (driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol).

Interpreters are paid for by Victoria Police and are registered and trained to translate during interviews.

There are interpreters available for many different languages and dialects. If an appropriate interpreter is not available, then the information you give to a police officer may be excluded in court.

Minors are able to be interviewed by police either as an accused or as a witness.

Any person under the age of 18 years must have either a parent, guardian or an independent person with them during a Record of Interview.

If a parent, guardian or independent person has not been arranged then the interview cannot be used as evidence. An independent person is arranged by police and is there to make sure minors understand their rights.

The only time that the police do not have to wait for a support person, is when they believe that someone may be in danger.

If a minor makes a statement to police as a witness, their statement can be by way of video rather than a written statement.

The length of a record of interview largely depends on the complexity of the investigation. It also depends on whether a person will elect to answer the questions or to give a “no comment” interview.

A “no comment” interview ordinarily takes half an hour or less, as the questions police ask are limited by the refusal to answer questions.

If a person elects to answer a record of interview and the offences are serious, the record of interview may go for several hours. It depends on the number of questions being asked by police.

Prior to a record of interview for serious offences, police will have a pre-determined line of questioning. These questions can be increased depending on the answers of the person being interviewed.

It is possible to be charged without a police interview in some circumstances. Examples include when the person waives their right for interview in custody, or when the person is deemed unfit for interview by an independent expert (due to mental illness or intoxication). Advice should always be sought in advance of any proposed process of arrest or interview by police.

Police have the power to arrest people for the purpose of a Record of Interview.

Following an arrest, you can elect to give a “no comment” interview whereby you refuse to answer the questions of the police member interviewing you. The only answers you must give are your name and address, otherwise, you have the right to silence.

On some occasions, you may be given the option to waive your right to an interview. This can occur if the accused person is in custody and has sought legal advice. This information is then communicated to police via the accused’s legal representative.

Police may give small detail regarding why they are interviewing you. However, they do not have to give you all the information they have before the interview takes place.

For example, the police may advise you that you are being interviewed for a shop theft. But they may not advise you until the end of the interview that they have CCTV video footage of the shop theft. This is a commonly used interview tactic by police as answers given in a record of interview can be used as evidence.

This is why it is important for all people to exercise their rights to contact a legal representative prior to the interview. A lawyer will ask a series of questions to a police officer regarding the offending and the evidence they have prior to giving interview advice.