Arrested in China: your rights

If you are arrested in China: no single time limit before a judge; restricted access to a lawyer; an interpreter in court or in practice.

Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.

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.

Time before a judge

No single figure

There is no single figure. Criminal detention can be three days before the prosecutor must approve an arrest, extendable to seven days, and up to 37 days in some cases. A prosecutor, not a judge, decides on arrest.

Access to a lawyer

Restricted

The law gives you the right to hire a lawyer from the first interrogation or detention, but in cases of terrorism, state security and bribery a lawyer may need the investigators' permission to meet you.

Free interpreter

Partial

An interpreter is provided in the proceedings; the right at the police stage is less clear.

Also worth knowing in China

Ask for your consulate to be told straight away; under a bilateral agreement or the Vienna Convention it should be informed, and you can ask for a consular visit.

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.

More about China

Sources

For the exact rule and its text, use China’s own constitution and code of criminal procedure, which are the authority. Your own government’s travel advice for China tells you what your embassy there can do.

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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TheLawToKnow Tools’s arrested abroad guide is an educational overview of general rules. It is not legal advice, and it does not replace the country’s own law or a lawyer in the country. Report a mistake.