Arrested Abroad: Your Rights
If you are arrested in another country, the first hours matter most. This guide shows, for each country, how long the police can hold you before a judge must be involved, whether you can have a lawyer, and whether you are entitled to an interpreter, and it says what your embassy can and cannot do.
Part of the comparative law toolkit. 64 countries so far; the others are shown pale. The rules are the general ones, written for travellers and expatriates, not a substitute for a local lawyer.
Every country, side by side
Click a heading to sort. Open a country for the full note, including special regimes for terrorism and organised crime.
| Australia | 12 h | partial | yes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 48 h | full | yes |
| Bangladesh | 24 h | partial | partial |
| Belgium | 24 h | full | yes |
| Brazil | 24 h | full | yes |
| Bulgaria | 72 h | full | yes |
| Canada | 24 h | full | partial |
| Chile | 24 h | full | partial |
| China | varies | restricted | partial |
| Colombia | 36 h | full | yes |
| Croatia | 48 h | full | yes |
| Cyprus | 24 h | full | yes |
| Czechia | 48 h | full | yes |
| Denmark | 24 h | full | yes |
| Egypt | 24 h | partial | partial |
| Estonia | 48 h | full | yes |
| Finland | 72 h | full | yes |
| France | 48 h | full | yes |
| Germany | 48 h | full | yes |
| Ghana | 48 h | full | yes |
| Greece | 24 h | full | yes |
| Hong Kong | 48 h | full | yes |
| Hungary | 72 h | full | yes |
| India | 24 h | partial | partial |
| Indonesia | 24 h | full | yes |
| Ireland | 24 h | full | yes |
| Israel | 24 h | partial | partial |
| Italy | 96 h | full | yes |
| Japan | 72 h | partial | yes |
| Kenya | 24 h | full | yes |
| Latvia | 48 h | full | yes |
| Lithuania | 48 h | full | yes |
| Luxembourg | 24 h | full | yes |
| Malaysia | 24 h | partial | partial |
| Malta | 48 h | full | yes |
| Mexico | 48 h | full | yes |
| Netherlands | 72 h | full | yes |
| New Zealand | varies | full | yes |
| Nigeria | 24 h | partial | partial |
| Norway | 72 h | full | yes |
| Pakistan | 24 h | partial | partial |
| Peru | 48 h | full | partial |
| Philippines | 36 h | full | partial |
| Poland | 48 h | full | yes |
| Portugal | 48 h | full | yes |
| Romania | 24 h | full | yes |
| Russia | 48 h | full | yes |
| Saudi Arabia | 24 h | partial | partial |
| Serbia | 48 h | full | yes |
| Singapore | 48 h | partial | partial |
| Slovakia | 48 h | full | yes |
| Slovenia | 48 h | full | yes |
| South Africa | 48 h | full | yes |
| South Korea | 48 h | full | yes |
| Spain | 72 h | full | yes |
| Sweden | 96 h | full | yes |
| Switzerland | 48 h | full | yes |
| Taiwan | 24 h | full | yes |
| Thailand | 48 h | full | yes |
| Turkey | 24 h | partial | yes |
| Ukraine | 72 h | full | yes |
| United Arab Emirates | 48 h | partial | partial |
| United Kingdom | 24 h | full | yes |
| United States | 48 h | full | partial |
Read this first
These are the general rules, not your case, and the first hours of an arrest are the most important. Special regimes for terrorism, organised crime and state security are often stricter than the general rule. In an emergency, ask for a lawyer and your embassy at once. This is general information, not legal advice.
Wherever you are arrested
Your embassy has a right to be told
Under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, which almost every country has signed, the authorities must tell you without delay that you may have your consulate told of your arrest, and must pass on your message if you ask. Ask for it by name: “I am a foreign national and I want my embassy to be told.”
Ask for a lawyer and an interpreter first
Say that you want a lawyer and, if you need one, an interpreter, before you answer questions. In many countries you may stay silent; where you may, using that right is not an admission of guilt.
Do not sign what you cannot read
Do not sign a statement or any other document in a language you do not understand, or one you have not been allowed to read.
Ask that someone is told
Most countries let you have a relative or another person told that you have been arrested. Ask for it, and give the person's number.
What your embassy can and cannot do
An embassy can visit you, give you a list of local lawyers, contact your family and make sure you are treated like local detainees. It cannot get you released, pay your legal fees, give you legal advice or ask for the law to be set aside.
Time before a judge
The longest the police can generally hold you before you must be brought before a judge, or a court or prosecutor must decide on your detention. Special regimes (terrorism, organised crime) are often longer; the note says so.
Access to a lawyer
Whether the law gives you a lawyer from the start. Full: a right to a lawyer before questioning and during it, free if you cannot pay. Partial: a right to a lawyer, but access can be delayed, the lawyer may not sit in on questioning, or free help is limited. Restricted: access is limited or depends on permission.
Free interpreter
Whether the law gives you a free interpreter at the police stage, if you do not speak the language. Yes: a clear legal right. Partial: an interpreter is required in court or provided in practice, but the right at the police station is weaker or unclear.
Take it further
- Free rights card in 15 languagesFree
Five sentences to show the police: embassy, lawyer, interpreter. Print it and keep it with your passport.
- General Power of Attorney template$5
Let someone you trust act for you when you cannot.
- Criminal Procedure course$15
Arrest, questioning, bail and trial rights.
- Criminal Law pocket guide$12
A short PDF reference book with self-check questions.
- One-page rule sheets for law students$3
A whole chapter of black-letter law on one printable page. Free sample.
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