Rights and LimitsPolice interviewsPolice questioning in Scotland — and why the English caution does not carry across
Police questioning in Scotland — and why the English caution does not carry across
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 must
Refusing is a criminal offence.
Give your name, address, date of birth, place of birth and nationality if a constable asks, even though you do not have to answer other questions.
This is the one exception to the general rule below, and it is a short, fixed list — not an open invitation to ask you anything else.
Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016, s.34(4)
“The person is under no obligation to answer any question, other than to give the following information— the person's name— the person's address— the person's date of birth— the person's place of birth— the person's nationality”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-08-25
You can refuse
No penalty for saying no.
You do not have to answer any question beyond your name, address, date of birth, place of birth and nationality.
Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016, s.34(4)
“The person is under no obligation to answer any question, other than to give the following information— the person's name— the person's address— the person's date of birth— the person's place of birth— the person's nationality”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-08-25
Scotland has no equivalent to the adverse-inference rule in section 34 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 — that Act applies to England and Wales only, and section 34 is not among the sections it extends to Scotland.
Do not assume the English caution, or advice built around it, applies here. It is a different statutory position, not the same rule in different words.
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, s.172(7)-(8)
“this Act extends to England and Wales only— Sections 47(3), 49, 60 to 67 , 70, 71, 81, 82, 146(4), 157(1), 163, 169 and 170 also extend to Scotland.”
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.
Anything you do choose to say in an interview remains subject to the ordinary rules on whether it can be used in evidence against you — this provision does not shield your answers from those rules.
The absence of an adverse-inference rule for silence does not mean answering is risk-free either. This is exactly the kind of judgement call a solicitor can help with before you decide.
Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016, s.34(5)
“Subsection (2) is without prejudice to any rule of law as regards the admissibility in evidence of any answer given.”
Read it at legislation.gov.ukquote checked 2026-08-25
The short version: there is no section 34 in Scotland
In England and Wales, staying silent in a police interview and then relying on an explanation later at trial can be held against you — the court may be invited to conclude you made the explanation up in the meantime. That rule comes from section 34 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.
That Act says of itself that, subject to specific exceptions, it “extends to England and Wales only”, and it goes on to list the particular sections that also extend to Scotland. Section 34 is not on that list. The adverse-inference rule that shapes English police-interview advice — and the wording of the English caution — simply is not part of Scots law.
If you have absorbed advice, or watched programmes, built around the English caution, do not assume it applies here. It does not.
What you do not have to say
Under the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016, a person in police custody who has not yet been officially accused is under no obligation to answer any question, with one specific exception covered below. A constable can ask, but you are not required to answer.
This is a plainer, less qualified rule than the English one. There is no equivalent statutory warning attached to it that your silence itself, later relied on at trial, can be used to suggest you invented your account.
The one thing you do have to give
The exception is narrow and specific: you are required to give your name, address, date of birth, place of birth and nationality if asked. That is the full list — the same provision that says you owe no general obligation to answer questions is also what carves out these five details.
Beyond those five items, the choice to stay silent or to answer is yours, and it is a genuinely different legal position from England and Wales — not simply the same rule stated in gentler language.
Last reviewed 2026-08-25. Next review due 2027-02-25. No solicitor has reviewed this page — see [email protected] if you think something here is wrong.