Rights and LimitsArrested and in custodyArrest and custody in Scotland
Arrest and custody in Scotland
What you must do, and what you can refuse
Every claim below links to the law it comes from, with the wording quoted so you can check it yourself.
You can refuse
No penalty for saying no.
An extension may be authorised only by a constable of at least inspector rank who has not been involved in the investigation.
Chief inspector or above if they believe you are under 18. It is a separate decision by someone outside your case, not a default.
Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016, s.11(2)
“Authorisation may be given only by a constable who— is of, or above, the rank of— inspector, if a constable believes the person to be 18 years of age or over— has not been involved in the investigation in connection with which the person is in police custody”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-08-26
A review of your custody must take place after 6 hours — your case is not simply left to run to the 12-hour mark unchecked.
Carried out by an inspector-rank officer who was not involved in the investigation.
Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016, s.13(1)(a)
“A custody review must be carried out— when a person has been held in police custody for a continuous period of 6 hours by virtue of authorisation given under section 7”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-08-25
Lawful to refuse — but it costs you
Not an offence, but it carries a penalty or an inference.
Once 12 hours have passed you may continue to be held only if you are charged, or a fresh authorisation is given under s.11.
The clock limits the police; it is not an allowance to be used up.
Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016, s.9(2)
“The person may continue to be held in police custody only if— a constable charges the person with an offence,”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-08-26
One power, not two
England and Wales still distinguishes arrest from other forms of police detention. Scotland does not. The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 replaced the old separate concepts of “detention” and “arrest” with a single power: a constable may arrest you without a warrant if they have reasonable grounds for suspecting you have committed, or are committing, an offence.
If you are in Scotland and someone talks about being “detained” by police in the old sense — held for questioning short of arrest — that concept was abolished in 2018. You are either under arrest, or you are free to go.
The 12-hour clock, and the 12 hours after that
Once you are in police custody, the starting limit is 12 hours. That period can be extended by a further 12 hours — 24 in total — but not automatically. The extension needs a fresh decision from a constable of at least inspector rank, and that officer must not have been involved in the investigation.
Within that time, if you have not been charged, a custody review must also take place after 6 hours, again carried out by an inspector who was not involved in your case. This is a check built into the clock, not something you have to ask for.
What happens at the end of it
Once the clock runs out, you must be charged, released, or — where the conditions for it are met — have a fresh authorisation given for a further period. You are not simply held on by default.
If you are charged, you must be brought before a court, generally before the end of the first day on which the court is sitting after that happens. Alternatively, the police can liberate you — with or without an undertaking to appear in court later — rather than keep you until a court appearance.
None of this changes what happens in an interview, which is covered separately: Scotland has no equivalent to the English adverse-inference rule, and that is significant enough to deserve its own page.
Last reviewed 2026-08-26. Next review due 2027-02-25. No solicitor has reviewed this page — see [email protected] if you think something here is wrong.