Immediate intervention at the station and the duty court · 24 hours
Detention may not exceed the time strictly necessary nor, in any event, seventy-two hours. The detainee has the right to a lawyer from the first moment, to remain silent and to an interpreter. We intervene urgently at the police station and before the duty court, around the clock.
In brief. What to do in the face of an arrest: the detainee’s rights, the maximum time limits, habeas corpus, the private interview with the lawyer and what the family should do meanwhile. The police interrogation requires the presence of counsel, and silence is a right that cannot prejudice you.
No interrogation without a lawyer: the police statement requires the presence of counsel, and before it the detainee has the right to a private interview with their lawyer. In that reserved interview the lawyer verifies that the rights were read, advises on whether and how to declare, requests an interpreter where needed and assesses whether habeas corpus is warranted. As a technical rule: no statement until the police report has been examined; silence is a right and cannot prejudice you.
While the lawyer travels, the family should locate the station, appoint counsel and gather what the defence will need. After the detention, the report is sent to the duty court with a copy to the prosecutor and access for the defence, and the detainee is brought before the judge, who decides on liberty or interim measures. That is the critical moment where prior preparation pays.
| Situation | Rule | What applies | The key point |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detained minor | LO 5/2000 | Juvenile Prosecutor and parents informed at once | Under fourteen: proceedings closed, child handed to the family |
| Line-ups with minors | LO 5/2000 | Exceptional, with the Prosecutor’s authorisation | A regime of its own throughout |
| Strip search | Instructions | Exceptional, motivated, strictly limited | Outside those limits, challengeable |
| Handcuffs | Proportionality | A security measure, documented in the report | Excesses can be reported |
| Incommunicado detention | Arts. 509-510 LECrim | Grave or organised crime, judicial decision required | Legality control is essential |
| Foreign detainees | Art. 520 | Interpreter and consulate | Rights information in a comprehensible language |
| After the station | Duty court | Liberty or interim measures | Where prior preparation pays |
| Fast track | Arts. 795 ss. | Trial possible within days | The clock does not stop after release |
This overview is indicative; each detention demands verification of its own times, records and circumstances.
Assistance is activated the moment the call arrives: the case preparation begins then, not at the station door. We verify the computation of the seventy-two hours from the street, the entries in the custody book, the rights information in a language the detainee understands and the access to the essential elements of the file; each defective step is a ground of challenge, and where the detention is irregular, habeas corpus is filed at once. The first hours condition the duty-court decision on liberty or measures, and that hearing is prepared from the first minute.
Persons under arrest at any station: private interview, statement strategy and time-limit control.
Relatives seeking urgent counsel: what to do, what to gather and what to expect in the first hours.
Non-Spanish speakers: interpreter, consulate and rights information actually understood.
Families of detained minors: the juvenile regime and its guarantees from the first moment.
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