Continued detention: reviews and extensions

A review reconsiders whether detention remains justified. An extension supplies authority beyond an otherwise applicable endpoint. They answer different questions, and neither substitutes for the other. Before charge, a review is carried out by an officer of at least inspector rank who has not been directly involved in the investigation; after charge, it is the custody officer's function. The review considers continuing grounds, investigative progress, rights, welfare and whether release is required. Authority: PACE, section 40(1); Code C, section 15.

The first review is due no later than six hours after detention was first authorised. The second is due no later than nine hours after the first, and subsequent reviews at intervals of no more than nine hours. A postponed review must be held as soon as practicable. Postponement is permitted where it is not practicable at the due time, including where interruption of current questioning would prejudice the investigation or no review officer is readily available. Record the reason; the postponement does not shift the timetable for the next review. A general statement that custody is busy does not dispense with the statutory assessment. Authority: PACE, section 40(3)–(6).

The detainee, available solicitor and available appropriate adult should have the opportunity to make representations. For a review, a sleeping detainee need not be awakened merely to participate, but the review must still occur and the relevant information be given when they wake. That exception must not be carried over to a superintendent's extension decision. Oral representations can be restricted where the detainee's condition or behaviour makes them unfit to make them; this does not erase the solicitor's opportunity or the obligation to record a reasoned decision. Authority: PACE, sections 40(12)–(14) and 42(6)–(9); Code C, paragraphs 15.3–15.7.

Authority beyond the ordinary 24 hours

An indictable offence is one capable of trial on indictment in the Crown Court; the expression includes either-way offences (which may be tried in either court) as well as indictable-only offences (tried in the Crown Court). For a summary-only offence, the ordinary further-detention routes below are unavailable. This classification is different from a recordable offence, a category used for fingerprint and sample powers in section 9. Authority: PACE, sections 42(1)(b) and 43(4)(b); Code D, the recordable-offence provisions.

Under PACE section 42, a superintendent or more senior officer responsible for the station may authorise detention to an endpoint no later than 36 hours after relevant time. There must be reasonable grounds to believe that detention is necessary to secure or preserve evidence or obtain it by questioning, that an offence for which the person is under arrest is indictable, and that the investigation is being conducted diligently and expeditiously—with proper attention and without unjustified delay. The authorisation cannot precede the second review or be given more than 24 hours after relevant time. An initial shorter authorisation can be extended again within the 36-hour ceiling if the conditions still hold. Authority: PACE, section 42(1)–(4).

The superintendent must hear the required representations, explain and record the grounds, and revisit unexercised notification and legal-advice rights. Ordinarily the decision is made at the station. A lawful live link is possible, but is not just a telephone substitute: the custody officer must consider it appropriate, the detainee must receive legal advice about its use, and the prescribed consent must be obtained. For a person aged 14–17 this includes both the person and parent or guardian; below 14 it is the parent or guardian. The child's or vulnerable adult's own consent requires an appropriate adult's presence. Authority: PACE, sections 42(5)–(9) and 45ZA; Code C, paragraphs 15.2 and 15.11A.

A warrant of further detention is the court's authority for an additional specified period, not permission for police to select any duration. Under section 43, the court must be satisfied of reasonable grounds for the same three core matters: evidential necessity, an indictable offence and diligent, expeditious investigation. The application is on oath and supported by written information explaining the offence, general evidence, enquiries completed and proposed, and why detention is needed for them. The detainee must receive that information and be brought before the court, subject to a lawful live-link procedure. They are entitled to legal representation; if unrepresented but wanting representation, the hearing must be adjourned to obtain it and detention during that adjournment is authorised. Authority: PACE, sections 43(1)–(4), (14), 45(1) and 45ZB; Code C, paragraph 15.7A.

The warrant states its issue time and the period selected by the court, no more than 36 hours. Under section 44, a warrant can be extended, or further extended, on the same justified-detention basis. Each extension is limited to 36 hours and cannot take detention beyond 96 hours from relevant time. The 24 → 36 → 72 → 96 sequence is therefore a useful picture of possible ceilings, not an automatic entitlement or a compulsory timetable. A warrant issued earlier, or for a shorter period, has its own actual expiry. Authority: PACE, sections 43(10)–(12) and 44(1)–(6).

Two qualifications which a clock diagram must not hide

Court-sitting exception. Normally the warrant application is made before 36 hours from relevant time. Where the court cannot practicably sit at that expiry but will sit within the following six hours, section 43(5)(b)–(6) permits application within that period and detention until it is heard, with the reason recorded. If it would have been reasonable for police to apply before 36 hours, the court must dismiss a late application. This is a specific statutory arrangement, not a discretionary six-hour grace period for police delay. Authority: PACE, section 43(5)–(7).

Precision and release. Section 45(2) states that Part IV references to periods or times are approximate. Do not turn that qualification into an invented tolerance, rounded-up hour or blanket cure for a missed safeguard. Calculate and record precise times, identify the actual decision and any legally material delay. If a warrant application is refused, charge or release is ordinarily required, but an unexpired existing period of authority may remain under section 43(16) or section 44(8). A repeated application after refusal under section 43 requires evidence coming to light since refusal. Authority: PACE, sections 43(15)–(18), 44(7)–(8) and 45(2).

Solicitor action. Ask what evidence remains to be secured, why custody is necessary to secure it, when investigative steps were requested and performed, why any delay occurred and whether release would meet the need. Obtain the application and record representations before the decision. “The allegation is serious” and “the devices have not been examined” do not themselves establish diligence or necessity. An imminent deadline is a reason to decide lawfully, not to interview an unfit suspect. Authority: PACE, sections 37 and 40–44; Code C, sections 9, 12 and 15.

Use the exact relevant-time, review and extension rules above. This comparison separates the jobs of the clocks; it does not replace their detailed conditions. Authority: PACE sections 40–44.