Detention for questioning: time limits and rights
Detention for the purposes of an investigation is limited in time, and it is compliance with those limits that most often determines whether a person is released within days.
How long it can last
Police may hold a detainee for a limited period, after which they must either release the person or bring them before a court with an application to extend. A judge decides the extension, and not as a matter of course: the court checks that there is reasonable suspicion, that a ground for detention exists, and that this particular measure is necessary.
Grounds for extension
- Risk of obstructing the investigation — influencing witnesses, destroying evidence.
- Risk of absconding.
- Danger to public safety.
- The need to carry out specific investigative steps that cannot be done otherwise.
General wording untethered from the facts of the case is a weak basis, and that is exactly where the defence works.
Rights of a detainee
- To know the ground for the detention.
- To inform a close person of their whereabouts.
- To meet a lawyer before questioning — and that meeting is confidential.
- To remain silent, knowing that what is said may be used.
- To receive medical care if needed.
Alternatives to custody
Instead of extending detention, the court may order house arrest, bail, third-party guarantees, a ban on approaching certain places or people, or the surrender of a passport. Being ready to propose concrete terms — an address, guarantors, a sum — substantially improves the chances of release at the first hearing.
Why counsel matters from day one
The first hearing shapes the whole case: it forms the court’s impression of the suspicion and of the person. Later applications for review are heard against the background of that first decision, and changing it is harder than getting the right result at the outset.
What relatives should do
- Find out which station the person is held at and who is handling the case.
- Engage a lawyer urgently — before the first questioning, not after.
- Prepare documents supporting an alternative to detention: proof of address, employment, guarantors.
- Do not pass anything on and do not contact witnesses in the case — that alone becomes a ground for extending detention.
After release
Release does not close the file. The investigation continues and restrictive conditions may apply; breaching them returns a person to custody faster than any new suspicion would.
Questioning while in custody
Detention and questioning are separate things, and the rights that apply to questioning do not disappear because a person is in custody. The right to consult a lawyer before an interview, the right to silence and the requirement to record interviews in cases of a certain gravity all continue to apply.
What happens to seized property
Phones, computers and documents are frequently seized alongside the detention. Ask for a protocol listing what was taken, note the condition of the devices, and do not disclose passwords without advice — the scope of lawful access to the data has its own legal limits and is worth arguing about early.
Extending detention repeatedly
Each extension must be justified afresh. Where the same reason is repeated without any progress in the investigation, that in itself becomes an argument for release, and it is the kind of point a defence lawyer raises from the record of previous hearings.
This article is general information and does not replace legal advice.
