Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016

Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016

2016 asp 1

Overview of the Act

Part 1 – Arrest and Custody

Chapter 5 – Rights of suspects in police custody

Intimation and access to a solicitor

Section 43 – Right to have intimation sent to solicitor

141. Section 43 affords a person in police custody the right to have a solicitor informed, as soon as reasonably practicable after a request is made by the person in police custody, that the person is being held in police custody, where they are being held and that the professional assistance of a solicitor is required. If the person has been officially accused of an offence (i.e. charged with the offence by the police or where a prosecutor has started proceedings in relation to the offence), the person has the right to have a solicitor informed whether they are to be released from custody or, if not, of the court before which the person is to be brought and the day on which the person will be brought before court.