Who is a Defendant and What Are Their Rights and Obligations?
The 2015 Criminal Procedure Code provides for defendants as follows:
1. A defendant is an individual or a juridical person who has been decided by the Court to be brought to trial. The rights and obligations of a defendant that is a juridical person shall be exercised through its legal representative in accordance with this Code.
2. A defendant has the following rights:
(a) To receive the decision to bring the case to trial; decisions on the application, change, or cancellation of preventive measures or coercive measures; decisions to suspend the case; judgments, court rulings, and other procedural decisions as provided in this Code;
(b) To participate in the court hearing;
(c) To be informed of and have explained their rights and obligations provided in this Article;
(d) To request expert examination or valuation of property; to request the replacement of procedural actors, experts, valuation experts, interpreters, or translators; to request the summoning of witnesses, victims, persons with related rights and obligations in the case, experts, valuation experts, other participants in legal proceedings, and procedural actors to the court hearing;
(đ) To present evidence, documents, objects, and requests;
(e) To express opinions on evidence, documents, and objects involved in the case, and to request procedural actors to examine and assess them;
(g) To conduct self-defense or to seek a defense counsel;
(h) To give statements, present opinions, and not be compelled to make statements against themselves or to plead guilty;
(i) To request the presiding judge to ask questions or to directly ask other participants at the court hearing with the presiding judge’s consent; to engage in arguments at the court hearing;
(k) To make a final statement before deliberation;
(l) To review the court record and request corrections or additions to the court record;
(m) To appeal the court’s judgment or ruling;
(n) To lodge complaints against procedural decisions or acts of competent procedural authorities or persons;
(o) Other rights as prescribed by law.
3. A defendant has the following obligations:
(a) To appear upon the Court’s summons. If absent without a force majeure reason or objective impediment, the defendant may be escorted to the court; if fleeing, the defendant shall be subject to a wanted warrant;
(b) To comply with the Court’s decisions and requests.
(Legal basis: Article 62 The 2015 Criminal Procedure Code)
