This is legal information, not legal advice. No solicitor has reviewed it. In England and Wales, if you are arrested you are entitled to free independent legal advice at the police station. In a narrow set of defined cases the police can delay your access to it, but the entitlement itself stands. In Scotland, if you are in police custody you have the right to a private consultation with a solicitor at any time.
Covers England & Wales and Scotland. Northern Ireland’s own police powers are not covered — the two UK-wide powers that do apply there (Schedule 7 and the device password power) say so on their own pages.
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