Skip to main content
PSR Train

PSRAS Prep · 8 min read · 2026-09-04

Special Warnings Practice Questions (CJPOA ss.36–37 Quiz)

Special warnings under CJPOA 1994 ss.36–37 trip up trainees who mix them up with the ordinary caution and s.34 silence. Sit five practice items on objects, marks, presence, and when a failure-to-account inference is available, then open the wider bank with a free account while PSR Train is testing.

Special warning CJPOA ss.36–37 practice quiz workbook with timer and multiple-choice answers for PSRAS revision

Special warnings under CJPOA ss.36–37

Trainees often blur special warnings with the standard caution and s.34 silence. Use the Code C practice questions at /blog/pace-code-c-practice-questions and the adverse inference interview advice at /blog/adverse-inference-interview-advice for those topics. Here the stems focus on objects, marks, presence, and when a failure-to-account inference is properly available under CJPOA 1994 ss.36–37.

Five original items. Cover the answers, sit the set, mark it. Review by statute or Code C rule, not the letter alone. After you score the set, create a free account at https://psrtrain.com/signup to open 500+ MCQs and timed practice. Access is free while testing, with no card required.

PSR Train is independent exam-prep for PSRAS candidates in England and Wales. It is not the assessor, Datalaw or Cardiff. These are original training items, not leaked papers. Confirm every point against current CJPOA 1994 and PACE Code C (including Annex C).

How to sit this quiz

Short mock. Note: arrested or not; object/mark or presence; solicitor opportunity before the request. Cut options that blur s.36 into s.34, or that run a special warning against a volunteer. Mark before you look.

Five special warning practice questions

Sit the five questions untimed first. Note your chosen letter, then check the answer and the CJPOA or Code C reference before moving on. When you revisit the set, time yourself tightly. Special-warning stems reward candidates who locate the statutory limb quickly rather than re-reading every option twice.

  • Q1. A special warning under CJPOA ss.36 or 37 can properly be given only where the suspect: (A) Is attending voluntarily and has been cautioned. (B) Has been arrested by a constable. (C) Has already been charged and is being further interviewed. (D) Has waived the right to an appropriate adult.
  • Q2. Officers want the detainee to account for a screwdriver found in a jacket pocket at arrest, which they reasonably believe may be linked to a specified offence. Which provision is engaged? (A) CJPOA s.34 (facts later relied on). (B) CJPOA s.36 (object, substance or mark). (C) CJPOA s.37 (presence at a place). (D) Code C 10.5 alone, with no special warning.
  • Q3. For a s.36 or s.37 inference to be available, the constable making the request must, among other things: (A) Read the Act verbatim. (B) Tell the person in ordinary language what the effect would be if they failed or refused to account. (C) Obtain superintendent authority before every special warning. (D) Wait until after charge before warning about objects or presence.
  • Q4. The detainee is at an authorised place of detention. Officers request an account under s.36, but the detainee has not been allowed an opportunity to consult a solicitor before that request. Which is correct? (A) The s.36 inference still applies if the special-warning wording was used. (B) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply: no s.36 inference from that failure or refusal (s.36(4A); same structure in s.37(3A)). (C) Inferences are barred only if fingerprints are also refused. (D) The special warning converts automatically into a s.34 inference.
  • Q5. Where Code C Annex C applies because the detainee was not allowed an opportunity to consult a solicitor before interview (e.g. Code C 6.6(a) or 6.6(b)), which is accurate? (A) Special warnings under ss.36 and 37 may still be given; only the caution changes. (B) Adverse inferences from silence are restricted, the caution is modified, and a ss.36/37 special warning must not be given (Code C 10.10–10.11 and Annex C). (C) Annex C affects juveniles only; adults remain fully open to ss.36/37 inferences. (D) Annex C lifts the need for ordinary-language explanation of the special warning.

Answers and references

Mark first. Paraphrases only, not extracts. Q1 answer: (B). Both sections require an arrested person. A cautioned volunteer is not the special-warning target.

Q2 answer: (B). Objects, substances or marks → s.36. Presence at a place → s.37. Neither is general s.34.

Q3 answer: (B). Ordinary language is mandatory (s.36(4); s.37(3)). Code C around 10.11 operationalises that duty.

Q4 answer: (B). No prior solicitor opportunity at an authorised place of detention → inference provisions do not apply (s.36(4A); s.37(3A)).

Q5 answer: (B). Annex C: modified caution, silence inferences restricted, no ss.36/37 special warning while it bites. Code C 10.10 points into that regime; 10.11 covers when a special warning can be given.

Five questions test retrieval, not the repetition PSRAS rewards. When these five feel automatic, open the full bank at https://psrtrain.com/signup. It’s free while testing, no card. You get access to 500+ MCQs and timed practice as independent prep for PSRAS candidates in England and Wales.

Disclaimer. PSR Train is independent exam-prep for PSRAS candidates in England and Wales. It is not the assessor, Datalaw or Cardiff. Original training items, not leaked papers. Confirm against current CJPOA 1994 and PACE Code C (including Annex C). General training information for PSRAS candidates in England and Wales. It isn’t legal advice, and it doesn’t replace your firm’s supervision or your assessment organisation’s materials.