Explains when a police officer can arrest you, the procedure for arrest and when reasonable force may be used. 

If you’re arrested, you’ll usually be taken to a police station, held in custody in a cell and then questioned. Information about being charged, your rights on arrest, and what happens next.

Explains how long you may be required to stay in police detention, as well as your rights whilst detailed to ask for a solicitor, medical treatment, or items such as clothes or food. (Content applies in England and Wales only)

Tells you what happens next if you are arrested and what are your legal rights, such as getting legal advice.

Links to FAQs about custody including whether you can find out if someone has been arrested and what happens to under 16 year olds if they are arrested.

Information and help for people arrested abroad, who may not speak the local language, have no idea of their rights and are far from home. Includes a link to a series of guides about criminal procedure and defence rights in a range of different countries. Each guide contains a ‘useful contacts’ section. Also information about what help Fair Trials can and cannot offer and straightforward and practical answers to the questions frequently asked by people arrested abroad and their friends and relatives.