If arrested, you must be told the grounds of arrest, and you may ask to contact a relative or friend and consult a lawyer. You must be brought before a Magistrate within 24 hours (excluding travel time). Police can only hold you longer with a remand order. Stay calm, give your identity details, and ask for a lawyer before giving a detailed statement.
If police cannot complete an investigation within 24 hours, they must ask a Magistrate for a remand order under section 117 CPC. Periods are capped by the seriousness of the offence: 4 plus 3 days, or 7 plus 7 days. The Magistrate must be satisfied detention is justified. A lawyer can oppose remand or seek a shorter period, and the High Court can review an order.
At the first court date the charge is read and you plead guilty or claim trial; bail is decided. The case then goes through case management and disclosure of documents, then trial. If the court finds a prima facie case you are called to enter your defence. After verdict, there is mitigation and sentence. An appeal must be filed within 14 days.
Police can require a person who appears to know the facts of a case to attend and give a statement. You must answer truthfully, but you are not bound to answer questions that would tend to expose you to a criminal charge. Find out whether you are a witness or a suspect, get advice first, and read your statement carefully before signing.
Under the Penal Code amendments made in 2024, it is an offence to let another person control your bank account or payment card, or to use your own or another person's account for transactions without lawful purpose. Penalties include fines and imprisonment of up to 10 years for the most serious offences. If your account is frozen or police call you, get advice before giving a statement.
Cheating is about deceiving someone into handing over property or doing something they would not otherwise do. Criminal breach of trust is about dishonestly misusing property that was lawfully entrusted to you. An unpaid debt or broken contract is usually a civil matter, not a crime, unless there was dishonesty from the start or misuse of entrusted property.
Criminal records are kept by the police registrar under the Registration of Criminals and Undesirable Persons Act 1969. If you are acquitted or discharged, your fingerprint particulars are dealt with under the Act. After a conviction, the Act allows records to be removed only in limited situations, so the best time to protect your record is before sentence, through advice on options such as a good behaviour bond.
Under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, possession and self-administration of drugs are offences, but they are treated very differently from trafficking. Above certain weights, the law presumes trafficking, which carries the most severe penalties. Rehabilitation routes exist for drug dependants. Get legal advice immediately, because the charge chosen and the weight found make a large difference.
Do not contact the complainant or their family, directly or through others. Preserve your messages, call logs and location data, and do not delete anything. Get legal advice before giving any police statement. Sexual offence allegations are investigated seriously, and genuine victims deserve protection; equally, every accused person is presumed innocent until proved guilty.
