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A custody suite is an area within a police station in the United Kingdom designed and adapted to process and detain those who have been arrested, or who are there for purposes such as answering bail.
Historically, all police stations had a small number of individual cells where offenders could be detained. However, in recent years most detainees are more likely to be taken to a large police station which are designated to hold prisoners.
There are numerous facilities contained within the custody suite, which most commonly include:
Upon arrival at the suite, the police officer who has made an arrest presents the suspect at a desk before the custody officer explaining the reason and details of the arrest and evidence gained. If the custody officer is satisfied that the person has been lawfully detained, they will authorise further detention of the person. The detainee would then be asked a series of questions regarding their personal details and informed of their rights whilst in custody under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 or Criminal Procedure (Legal Assistance, Detention and Appeals) (Scotland) Act 2010 in Scotland. Before being allocated a cell and a record being made of the time detained, the detainee is usually searched with any item they are carrying removed and in some cases if forensic evidence has to be preserved. All items of clothing and personal items taken from the detainee are logged and held in a secure place until the detainee's departure.
The arresting officer will then complete the necessary documentation for the arrest and may conduct brief further enquiries (including a tape recorded interview with the suspect) before the suspect is brought before the custody officer again for disposal. This disposal could take numerous forms, the most common being that the person is charged with an offence, given police bail in order for further investigation to be carried out, or released without any charge.
Independent custody visitors may make unannounced visits to custody suites to ensure that people being detained are treated properly.
Habeas corpus is a recourse in law by which a report can be made to a court in the events of unlawful detention or imprisonment, requesting that the court orders the person's custodian, to bring the prisoner to court, to determine whether their detention is lawful.
An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody, usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be questioned further and/or charged. An arrest is a procedure in a criminal justice system, sometimes it is also done after a court warrant for the arrest.
Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countries, especially the United States, bail usually implies a bail bond, a deposit of money or some form of property to the court by the suspect in return for the release from pre-trial detention. If the suspect does not return to court, the bail is forfeited and the suspect may be charged with the crime of failure to appear. If the suspect returns to make all their required appearances, bail is returned after the trial is concluded.
The right to silence is a legal principle which guarantees any individual the right to refuse to answer questions from law enforcement officers or court officials. It is a legal right recognized, explicitly or by convention, in many of the world's legal systems.
A citizen's arrest is an arrest made by a private citizen – that is, a person who is not acting as a sworn law-enforcement official. In common law jurisdictions, the practice dates back to medieval England and the English common law, in which sheriffs encouraged ordinary citizens to help apprehend law breakers.
The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) is an Act of Parliament which instituted a legislative framework for the powers of police officers in England and Wales to combat crime, and provided codes of practice for the exercise of those powers. Part VI of PACE required the Home Secretary to issue Codes of Practice governing police powers. The aim of PACE is to establish a balance between the powers of the police in England and Wales and the rights and freedoms of the public. Equivalent provision is made for Northern Ireland by the Police and Criminal Evidence Order 1989 (SI 1989/1341). The equivalent in Scots Law is the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995.
Extrajudicial prisoners of the United States, in the context of the early twenty-first century War on Terrorism, refers to foreign nationals the United States detains outside of the legal process required within United States legal jurisdiction. In this context, the U.S. government is maintaining torture centers, called black sites, operated by both known and secret intelligence agencies. Such black sites were later confirmed by reports from journalists, investigations, and from men who had been imprisoned and tortured there, and later released after being tortured until the CIA was comfortable they had done nothing wrong, and had nothing to hide.
Torture in Bahrain refers to the violation of Bahrain's obligations as a state party to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and other international treaties and disregard for the prohibition of torture enshrined in Bahraini law.
Shanghai Detention Center (SDC) is located in Pudong, Shanghai, about 32 kilometres (20 mi) outside of downtown Shanghai. The facility houses serious domestic criminals and all foreigners suspected of infractions.
Detention is the process whereby a state or private citizen lawfully holds a person by removing their freedom or liberty at that time. This can be due to (pending) criminal charges preferred against the individual pursuant to a prosecution or to protect a person or property. Being detained does not always result in being taken to a particular area, either for interrogation or as punishment for a crime. An individual may be detained due a psychiatric disorder, potentially to treat this disorder involuntarily. They may also be detained for to prevent the spread of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis.
Administrative detention is arrest and detention of individuals by the state without trial. A number of jurisdictions claim that it is done for security reasons. Many countries claim to use administrative detention as a means to combat terrorism or rebellion, to control illegal immigration, or to otherwise protect the ruling regime.
A custody officer is an attested constable, in the United Kingdom and in the United States who works in a custody suite. A custody officer is in charge of the protection and transportation of detainees and/ or prisoners between a jail or prison and court. Most custody officers in the United States are also limited commissioned law enforcement officers and can only enforce the laws that directly pertain to custody enforcement.
Pre-trial detention, also known as jail, preventive detention, provisional detention, or remand, is the process of detaining a person until their trial after they have been arrested and charged with an offence. A person who is on remand is held in a prison or detention centre or held under house arrest. Varying terminology is used, but "remand" is generally used in common law jurisdictions and "preventive detention" elsewhere. However, in the United States, "remand" is rare except in official documents and "jail" is instead the main terminology. Detention before charge is commonly referred to as custody and continued detention after conviction is referred to as imprisonment.
Berkemer v. McCarty, 468 U.S. 420 (1984), is a decision of the United States Supreme Court that ruled that a person in police custody following a misdemeanor traffic offense was entitled to the protections of the Fifth Amendment pursuant to the decision in Miranda v. Arizona 384 U.S. 436 (1966). Previously, some courts had been applying Miranda only to serious offenses.
The powers of the police in England and Wales are defined largely by statute law, with the main sources of power being the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and the Police Act 1996. This article covers the powers of police officers of territorial police forces only, but a police officer in one of the UK's special police forces can utilise extended jurisdiction powers outside of their normal jurisdiction in certain defined situations as set out in statute. In law, police powers are given to constables. All police officers in England and Wales are "constables" in law whatever their rank. Certain police powers are also available to a limited extent to police community support officers and other non warranted positions such as police civilian investigators or designated detention officers employed by some police forces even though they are not constables.
Following the common law system introduced into Hong Kong when it became a Crown colony, Hong Kong's criminal procedural law and the underlying principles are very similar to the one in the UK. Like other common law jurisdictions, Hong Kong follows the principle of presumption of innocence. This principle penetrates the whole system of Hong Kong's criminal procedure and criminal law. Viscount Sankey once described this principle as a 'golden thread'. Therefore, knowing this principle is vital for understanding the criminal procedures practised in Hong Kong.
Torture during the Bahraini uprising (2011–present) has been described in many human rights reports as being widespread and systematic; 64% of detainees reported being tortured. At least five individuals died as a result. During the uprising detainees were interrogated by three government agencies, the Ministry of Interior (MoI), the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Bahrain Defence Force.
On April 27, 2017, a scandal arose when a team from the Commission of Human Rights (CHR) raided the Manila Police District (MPD) station 1 in Tondo, Manila, Philippines and discovered that about 12 men and women were being detained inside a cell hidden behind a bookshelf. It was reported that these prisoners inside the said cell were being held by the police allegedly to be released only upon payment of ransom.
The Bureau of Immigration Bicutan Detention Center (BI–Bicutan) is the principal immigration detention center administered by the Bureau of Immigration of the Philippines. Located inside Camp Bagong Diwa, in Lower Bicutan, Taguig, the facility is known internally as the Warden Facility and Protection Unit (WFPU). However, in press releases and public statements, the Bureau variously refers to the facility as being a "jail", "warden facility" or "detention center". The function of the facility is to hold foreign detainees who are awaiting deportation, for example, because they have pending criminal cases, or because they are accused of having overstayed their visas.
Bail in the United Kingdom is the practice of releasing individuals from remand subject to certain conditions which are designed to enable criminal justice outcomes, primarily trials and police investigations, to be completed efficiently and effectively. The right to bail is guaranteed in a wide range of contexts but is not absolute. The legal systems of England and Wales, Northern Ireland and of Scotland each deal with bail in similar but distinct ways. Bail can be granted by the courts, the police and certain other criminal justice authorities including the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).