How long can someone be detained pending trial?

Many people call us asking how long the police are allowed to detain them or a loved one after the arrest.

When the arrested suspect arrives at the police station, the Assistant Public Prosecutor determines that he will be detained at the police station for investigation, or that he will be released. If the suspect has to stay, in most cases this can be done for a period of nine hours. Within that period, the suspect is heard by the police. The hours between midnight and nine o'clock in the morning do not count. This first part can therefore take up to 18 hours.

If further investigation is required, the suspect may be placed under insurance. The insurance takes a maximum of three days. In special cases, the insurance may be extended by a maximum of three days.

If the Public Prosecutor wants a suspect to remain in custody after the insurance has been taken out, he will refer the case to the examining magistrate. The examining magistrate can only order this if at that moment there is a strong suspicion and there is a good reason to detain the suspect (for example because the suspect would otherwise flee, or would commit crimes again). If there is insufficient evidence or if there is no good reason to detain the suspect, the examining magistrate determines that the suspect will be released. Also if the examining magistrate thinks that there is a good chance that the accused will eventually not receive a prison sentence or that this sentence will be shorter than the time he has already been detained, the examining magistrate releases the accused.

If there are good reasons to detain a suspect, but the suspect has a great interest in being released, the examining magistrate can release the suspect under certain conditions. This is called suspension.

The examining magistrate can detain the suspect for a maximum of 14 days. In that case, the suspect usually does not stay at the police station anymore, but is transferred to a house of detention.

If the prosecutor wants the accused to remain in custody after those fourteen days, he asks the court's chambers to order that. This chamber consists of three judges. The council chamber also examines whether the suspicion is strong enough and whether there are good reasons to detain someone. The council chamber can decide that someone will be detained for a maximum of another 90 days.

After those 90 days, the case must be heard by the court. Sometimes the investigation is not completed in those 90 days. In that case, there will be a hearing at which the judge will decide whether the suspect must remain in custody any longer, but the substance of the case will not yet be dealt with. This is called a pro forma hearing. If the suspect is not yet released at that hearing, there must be a new hearing every 90 days in any case, until the suspect has been released or sentenced.

It is often to your advantage to contact a lawyer as soon as possible after the arrest or after you have heard that you need to remain detained for a longer period of time. In that case, you or a family member can contact us (020-6383606) for an appointment with one of our lawyers.