Police detention in 2026: 72 hours, a detainee’s rights and checking the report

Detention without an investigating judge’s order cannot exceed 72 hours from the moment of actual detention. Within that period the notice of suspicion must be served within 24 hours, and the detainee must be brought before a court to hear the application for a preventive measure no later than 60 hours. Administrative detention is limited to three hours.

Article 29 of the Constitution and Article 211 of the Criminal Procedure Code set the same limit: 72 hours. The clock starts not when the report is drawn up, nor on arrival at the police station, but at the moment of actual detention — the minute a person, under compulsion or obeying an order, has to stay beside an authorised officer or in premises that officer has designated. That minute, as recorded in the report, later determines whether the detention was lawful.

Most detainees lose their position in the first two hours: they give statements without a defence lawyer, sign the report unread, and fail to notice items in the list of seized property that were never theirs. Below are the deadlines, the rights and the concrete steps worth taking from the moment you are stopped in the street to the moment the report is signed.

How administrative and criminal detention differ

Administrative detention is governed by Article 263 of the Code of Administrative Offences. The general period is three hours, and once identity is established and the report drawn up the person must be released. Longer detention is allowed only in exceptional cases: up to three days with written notice to the prosecutor within 24 hours, and, for persons without identity documents, up to ten days with the prosecutor’s authorisation. For petty hooliganism, wilful disobedience to a police officer’s lawful demand or insulting an officer, detention may last until the case is heard by a court.

Criminal detention without an investigating judge’s order is possible only on the grounds in Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code: the person was caught committing the offence or attempting it; immediately afterwards eyewitnesses identified them or they bear obvious traces of the offence; there are reasonable grounds to believe they are in hiding. A further ground is the detention, in cases defined by law, of a person who has committed an offence punishable by imprisonment. Here the limit is 72 hours.

The first fifteen minutes: what to do

The first and cheapest step is to fix the time. Say the date, hour and minute you were stopped out loud, preferably on video. Article 18 of the Law “On the National Police” No. 580-VIII requires an officer to state their post, rank and surname and, on demand, to produce their warrant card; you are entitled to film that. If filming openly is impossible, switch on a voice recorder and send the file to the cloud or a messenger: the device can be seized, but the copy in the cloud stays.

The second step is to establish the ground. Part four of Article 208 requires the authorised officer to state immediately, in plain language, the grounds for the detention and what exactly the person is suspected of, and to explain the right to a defence lawyer, to medical care, to say nothing about the suspicion, to have others informed of the detention and to demand a review of whether the detention was justified. The third step is to demand a lawyer. Article 63 of the Constitution gives the right not to testify against oneself and Article 59 the right to legal assistance, while free assistance is provided by the legal aid system: its contact centre is on 0 800 213 103, and under Article 213 the investigator must notify the centre of the detention.

The detention report: four fields that decide the case

Article 208 sets out what the report must contain: the place, date and exact time of detention in hours and minutes, the grounds, the results of the personal search, any applications, statements or complaints by the detainee, and the full list of their procedural rights and duties. The report is signed by the officer and the detainee, and a copy is handed to the detainee against signature immediately and sent to the prosecutor.

Four places need checking. The time and date of actual detention: a gap between the real time and the one written in the report is the commonest ground for finding the detention unlawful. The witnesses field: check that those people were really present. The list of seized items: it must not contain things that were never taken from you, and every item seized must be described in detail; if nothing was taken, that is what should be written. The applications and comments field: this is where you ask to see the case file with the right to copy it, name witnesses and record every breach, injuries and refusal of medical care included.

Blank spaces above your signature should be struck through so that nothing can be added later. Refusing to sign does not improve your position: the officer records the refusal in the presence of two people, and the text stands as drafted, without your comments. Working through these details is the core of what a lawyer for detention does in the first hours after being called.

Search, seizure and items in your pocket that are not yours

The personal search during detention is carried out by an officer of the same sex, and its results go into the report. If you notice an object in your pocket, bag or car that does not belong to you, do not touch it under any circumstances: your fingerprints on the packaging will later be the main evidence against you. Insist that the object be seized in the presence of witnesses, filmed, properly packed and sealed, and that your comment that the item is not yours be entered in the report.

When a mobile phone is seized, note in the report that it contains correspondence with your lawyer: such material is covered by lawyer-client privilege, and access to it requires a separate procedure. Searches of homes and cars have their own rules, and defence during a search and questioning is built around the investigating judge’s order, a copy of which must be handed to you before the search begins.

What to do after release

1. Have any injuries examined at a medical facility straight away: a doctor’s report describing the nature and age of the injuries is the key evidence in a case about abuse of authority.
2. Obtain a copy of the detention report and the note of procedural rights if they were not handed to you on the spot: that is a separate requirement of Article 208.
3. File a report of a criminal offence with the State Bureau of Investigation or the prosecutor’s office: the information must be entered in the unified register of pre-trial investigations within 24 hours of the report.
4. Request the officers’ bodycam footage and recordings from CCTV cameras near the place of detention: they are kept for a limited time, so the application should go in within the first days.
5. Complain to the investigating judge about the investigator’s inaction if the information was not entered in the register: the complaint is filed within ten days of your learning of the inaction.
6. Prepare a claim for compensation under Law No. 266/94-VR if the detention is found unlawful: the right to compensation arises once the proceedings are closed or an acquittal is entered.

Typical mistakes detainees make

• Giving statements “so they let me go sooner”. A statement given without a defence lawyer later becomes evidence, and refuting it is harder than the silence Article 63 of the Constitution permits.
• Resisting or pushing an officer. That is an independent ground for using force and for fresh proceedings that will overshadow the original episode.
• Refusing to sign the report. The refusal is recorded in the presence of two people, the detainee’s comments never reach the document, and there is later nothing with which to prove a breach.
• Leaving the applications field empty. In court an empty field reads as agreement with everything in the report, although that is exactly where a beating or the denial of a lawyer would be recorded.
• Accepting the “in-house” lawyer offered in the office. The right to choose your defence counsel freely is unrestricted, and a free legal aid lawyer is called on 0 800 213 103.

When you do not need a lawyer

If you were stopped for a document check and there is no detention, it is enough to identify yourself, show the document and record the officer’s name and post on video. In an ordinary three-hour administrative episode where you accept the facts and the penalty is a few hundred hryvnias, calling a lawyer will not pay for itself: the report can be checked against the list of fields above on your own. Help becomes necessary once you have been taken to the station and are not being released, once a detention report under Article 208 is being drawn up, once a search is carried out or equipment seized, or once there are injuries. In those situations defence in criminal cases begins before the first interview, because the deadline for the preventive measure hearing expires in 60 hours.

Questions and answers

How many hours can the police hold you without a court decision

No more than 72 hours from the moment of actual detention, under Article 29 of the Constitution and Article 211 of the Criminal Procedure Code. If there is no reasoned court decision within that time, the person is released immediately.

From what moment is the detention period counted

From the moment of actual detention, that is from the minute a person, under compulsion or obeying an order, has to stay beside an authorised officer. The time the report was drawn up does not affect this count.

How long does administrative detention last

Up to three hours under Article 263. In exceptional cases, such as a breach of the border regime or of the rules on narcotics, it reaches three days, and without identity documents ten days with the prosecutor’s authorisation.

Am I obliged to give a statement

No. Article 63 of the Constitution frees a person from liability for refusing to testify about themselves, their family and close relatives, and Article 42 of the Criminal Procedure Code expressly calls this a suspect’s right.

How do I call a free lawyer

Ring the free legal aid contact centre on 0 800 213 103. In addition, Article 213 requires the investigator to notify the legal aid centre of every detention.

Can I film police officers

Yes. Article 18 of the Law “On the National Police” requires an officer to state their post, rank and surname and to produce their warrant card on demand, and recording an official’s public actions in the course of duty does not require their consent.

When must the notice of suspicion be served

Within 24 hours of detention under Article 278. If that does not happen, the detainee must be released immediately.

What if the report shows the wrong time

Write the correct date and time in the comments field before signing and say how you know them: a video, a call, a receipt, a CCTV camera. A discrepancy in the time is an independent ground for challenging the lawfulness of the detention.

Can compensation be obtained for unlawful detention

Yes, under Law No. 266/94-VR on compensation for harm caused to a citizen by unlawful acts of the inquiry, pre-trial investigation, prosecution and the courts. Both pecuniary and moral damage are compensated.

Where do you complain about police conduct

A report of a criminal offence goes to the State Bureau of Investigation or the prosecutor’s office, while procedural decisions and the investigator’s inaction are challenged before the investigating judge under Article 303.

Sources

• Constitution of Ukraine, Articles 29, 59, 63
• Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, Articles 42, 208, 209, 211, 213, 278, 303
• Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offences, Articles 261, 263
• Law of Ukraine “On the National Police”, Article 18
• Law of Ukraine “On Free Legal Aid”
• Law of Ukraine No. 266/94-VR on compensation for harm caused by unlawful acts of investigating bodies
• Free Legal Aid system: contact centre 0 800 213 103

Defence on detention with Svarog

We come to the police station, check the detention report against the deadlines and the fields, record breaches, prepare objections to the application for a preventive measure and challenge unlawful acts by law enforcement. A lawyer’s participation in investigative actions costs from 15,000 UAH, a consultation from 1,500 UAH, and full handling of a criminal case starts at 60,000 UAH; the other items are on the legal services price list page.

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