Criminal Investigation Experience You Can Trust

Any police investigation against you will be used to gather evidence. Most investigations start because the investigating authority has strong suspicions of criminal activity taking place. The investigation stage is often key to any criminal case, which is why it’s important that you seek legal advice immediately if you’re under investigation.

This is one of the questions that do not have one answer, as there are several factors that need to be taken into consideration. A police investigation can last weeks, months or even years in some cases. Everything depends on, for example, how complex the case is or the witnesses’ availability.

Yes. Police station interviews can be intimidating and highly stressful, and things you say may be misinterpreted and used against you. Having legal representation at a police station is a must to ensure that your rights are protected while facing questioning.

The police have the right to keep you in custody for 24 hours – afterwards, they need to either release you or charge you with a criminal offence. They can apply for an extension to 36 or 96 hours if they are investigating you for a serious crime, such as murder.

If you are arrested under the Terrorist Act, the police have the right to hold you in custody for 14 days without charge.

The length of time the police have to charge you depends on the severity of the offence. Summary only offences, such as common assault, have a six-month time limit, but more serious offences, like sexual abuse, have no time limit.

Yes, you can be released on police bail – however, only if the police don’t have enough evidence to charge you. Keep in mind that while you don’t have to pay to be released, you will still be required to show up for questioning when asked.

If you are released under conditional bail, the police may impose some restrictions in terms of what you can do – what those will be, depends mostly on what kind of criminal offence they suspect you of committing. For instance, if it involves children, you might be restricted from being alone with minors; if you are being investigated for repeated theft in a shop, you might be restricted from entering the area and so on.

Bails have a 28-day limit, which can be extended to three months by a senior police officer. That’s why police officers often prefer to release suspects under investigation.

When you are being released under investigation, you are still suspected of committing a criminal offence – however, you are not charged yet, and your case hasn’t made its way into the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

This usually means that the police don’t have enough evidence to charge you but still consider you a suspect – it gives them more time to make inquiries so that in the end, they can either drop the case against you or charge you. Contrary to bail, RUI has no time limit, meaning that you can be a suspect in a case for a long time.

If the police decide to drop the case, you will get a call from them. If, on the other hand, they decide that you have to be charged with an offence officially, you will be informed about it either via a phone call or a letter.

In case of a phone call, you will be asked to come to the police station, where you’ll be formally charged and given a charge sheet that will tell you when and where you have to attend court. If you don’t show up, a warrant might be issued for your arrest.

The letter you receive by post comes from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), and it’s called postal requisition. Similar to a charge sheet, it tells when and where you need to be present in court. In some cases, you might receive a phone call that a postal requisition is on its way; however, usually, it doesn’t happen.