What to do after detention: advice from a lawyer

If you or someone close to you has been detained on suspicion of a criminal offence, in the first hours it is important to know from what moment the time limits run, which rights apply and who is obliged to ensure them. Below is what the law provides for such detention, and a few practical tips, marked as ours. Administrative detention is a different procedure with different time limits: in general no more than three hours, for certain offences — longer (Article 263 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offences). There is a separate article about searches — what to do during a search.

In brief: what to do right away

1. Remember the time when you were stopped and not allowed to leave.
2. If a police officer is detaining you, they are obliged to state their surname, position and rank, and at your demand to show their service ID (Article 18(3) of the Law of Ukraine “On the National Police”).
3. Say that you need defence counsel, and whom to notify about the detention.
4. Our advice: do not give explanations or testimony until you have met with defence counsel.
5. Read the protocol before signing, write your remarks in it, demand a copy.
6. If you have injuries or feel unwell — demand medical assistance.

From what moment a person is detained

Not from the moment the protocol is drawn up. Under Article 209 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine (hereinafter the CPC), a person is detained from the moment when, by force or through obeying an order, they are compelled to stay next to a police officer or another authorised official, or in premises that the latter has designated. From this moment the time limits discussed below run.

Without a ruling of the investigating judge or the court, a person may be detained only in the cases provided for by the CPC (Article 207(1)): in particular, if the person was caught in the act of committing a crime for which deprivation of liberty is provided, or immediately after it, when eyewitnesses or obvious signs point to that very person (Article 208(1)). Under martial law, a person may also be detained without a ruling where reasonable circumstances give grounds to believe that a suspect in a crime may flee in order to evade criminal liability (Article 615(1)(6) of the CPC).

If, however, the person was detained on the basis of a ruling of the investigating judge or the court granting permission for detention, a copy of the ruling must be handed over immediately, and no later than 36 hours from the moment of detention the person must be released or brought to the investigating judge or the court that issued the ruling (Article 191(1) and 191(5) of the CPC). The time limits of 60 and 72 hours below apply to detention without a ruling.

Your rights from the first minute

The police officer or other authorised official who detained you is obliged to immediately, in a language you understand, state the grounds for the detention and the crime you are suspected of committing, and also to explain your rights (Article 208(4) of the CPC; Article 29(4) of the Constitution of Ukraine) and to hand you a memo about them (Article 42(8) of the CPC). The main ones:

• Defence counsel. You have the right to have defence counsel on first demand and to meet with them confidentially before the first interrogation — on any day and at any time (Article 42(3)(3) of the CPC).
• Silence. You may say nothing about the suspicion and refuse to answer questions at any time (Article 18(2) of the CPC; Article 63 of the Constitution of Ukraine), and testimony obtained without notifying you of this right is inadmissible evidence (Article 87(1) and 87(2)(4) of the CPC). After a statement refusing to answer, the interrogation must be stopped at once (Article 224(4) of the CPC). But under martial law, the testimony of a suspect from an interrogation in which defence counsel took part and which was video-recorded may be used as evidence in court (the second paragraph of Article 615(11) of the CPC).
• Review of the detention. You may demand a review of whether the detention is reasonable (Article 42(3)(6) of the CPC) and challenge it in court at any time (Article 29(5) of the Constitution of Ukraine).
• Dignity. Torture, cruel or degrading treatment, threats of such treatment and holding in degrading conditions are prohibited (Article 11(2) of the CPC; Article 28 of the Constitution of Ukraine).

Who is responsible for you at the police station

In a body that includes a pre-trial investigation unit, officials are appointed who are responsible for the stay of detained persons and the observance of their rights (Article 212(1) of the CPC). They cannot be, in particular, investigators, inquirers, their supervisors or operational officers. Such an official is obliged, in particular, to register you immediately, to ask about the circumstances of the detention and the coercive measures applied, to ensure medical assistance and the recording of bodily injuries by a medical professional, and to release you — immediately, as soon as the ground for detention has disappeared or its time limit has expired (Article 212(2) and (3)). You can also report violence to the court: the investigating judge is obliged to record the statement and ensure an urgent forensic medical examination; the judge may fail to do so only if the prosecutor proves that these actions have already been carried out or are being carried out (Article 206(6) and 206(8) of the CPC).

Protocol and signature

The detention protocol must state the place, date and exact time of detention — hours and minutes, and a copy must be handed to you immediately against signature (Article 208(5) of the CPC). Before signing, you have the right to read the protocol and write your remarks — they are entered before the signatures. If you refuse to sign, this is noted in the protocol, and you may explain the reasons in writing (Article 104(4)–(6) of the CPC). Our advice: do not sign documents you do not understand until defence counsel has seen them.

How relatives are notified

You must be given the opportunity to immediately notify close relatives, family members or other people of your choice of the detention and your place of stay (Article 213(1) of the CPC). The Constitution requires that relatives be notified of the detention immediately (Article 29(6) of the Constitution of Ukraine). Instead of you, the detaining official may make the notification, if they reasonably suspect that your notification may harm the investigation — and also immediately (the second paragraph of Article 213(1)). The parents (adoptive parents, guardians, custodians) and the guardianship and custody authority are immediately notified of the detention of a minor (Article 213(2)), and if the detainee has a dependent child who, because of the detention, has been left without parental care — the police and the guardianship and custody authority at the child’s place of stay (Article 213(6)). The official responsible for detainees checks whether the notification has been made, and if not, makes it themselves (Article 213(5)).

How long you can be held without a court decision

• 24 hours — to hand over a written notice of suspicion; if it is not handed over — immediate release (Article 278(2) and (3) of the CPC). Under martial law, if timely service is objectively impossible, the period may be extended to 48 hours, after which — likewise immediate release (Article 615(7) of the CPC).
• 60 hours — no later than this, the detainee must be released or brought to court for consideration of a motion for a preventive measure (Article 211(2) of the CPC).
• 72 hours — the maximum period of detention without a ruling of the investigating judge or the court (Article 211(1) of the CPC). If within this time the person has not been handed a reasoned court decision on detention in custody, they are released immediately (Article 29(3) of the Constitution of Ukraine).

Martial law does not extend the 72 hours (the eleventh paragraph of Article 615(1) of the CPC). If it is impossible to bring the detainee to court in time, the motion for a preventive measure is considered by video link (the twelfth paragraph), and if this is also impossible — the person is released immediately (the thirteenth paragraph of Article 615(1)).

Defence counsel: your own or free of charge

Everyone is free to choose their defence counsel (Article 59 of the Constitution of Ukraine). Counsel can be invited at any moment — by yourself or through relatives or other people at your request or with your consent. The investigator, prosecutor, investigating judge and court are obliged to help the detainee contact defence counsel or those who can invite counsel, to allow the use of means of communication, and not to recommend a specific defence counsel (Article 48(1) of the CPC).

For every detention, the detaining official is obliged to immediately notify the free legal aid centre, and if the defence counsel appointed by the centre has not arrived within the established period — to immediately notify the centre of this (Article 213(4) of the CPC). A person who is considered detained under the CPC has the right to free defence and to the drawing up of procedural documents (Article 14(1)(5) of the Law of Ukraine “On Free Legal Aid”; Article 13(2)). The law sets the income condition for another category (Article 14(1)(1)); for detainees there is none. The centre decides on such assistance from the moment of detention, including when your close relatives or family members have applied (Article 19(5) of that Law).

The participation of defence counsel is mandatory, in particular, in proceedings concerning particularly serious crimes and persons suspected of committing a criminal offence under the age of 18 (Article 52(1) and (2)(1) of the CPC).

For defence counsel to be admitted, a document proving identity, a certificate of the right to practise as an attorney and a warrant, contract or assignment from the free legal aid centre are sufficient; no other requirements or conditions may be imposed (Article 50(1) and (2) of the CPC).

Defence counsel has not yet arrived, and they want to interrogate you? You may object to the procedural action without defence counsel — then it is postponed, or defence counsel is brought in for it under the procedure of Article 53 (the second paragraph of Article 46(2) of the CPC). It may not be the attorney you are waiting for: in urgent cases, when the chosen defence counsel cannot arrive, another is brought in for a separate action (Article 53(1) of the CPC).

What next

A person detained on suspicion of committing a criminal offence is already a suspect (Article 42(1) of the CPC). Next comes a written notice of suspicion and, if the prosecution asks for a preventive measure, consideration of the motion in court within the time limits given above. The investigating judge is obliged to release the person if it is not proved that there were lawful grounds to detain them without a ruling, that the maximum period was not exceeded and that bringing them to court was not delayed (Article 206(5) of the CPC).

We have written separately about how the court chooses preventive measures. For more on what an attorney in a criminal case helps with, see our service page.

The provisions are cited as currently in force as of 13 October 2026.