The 22:40 Arrest and the Afternoon Court Session

The arithmetic first, then the standard.

• Personal liberty is protected by Article 11 of the Constitution: arrest must rest on defined grounds, the reason must be given in a language the person understands, and the arrested person must be brought before a judge as soon as possible and in any event within 24 hours.
• The clock runs from the moment liberty is taken away, i.e. 22:40 on Tuesday, not from the time written in the custody register on arrival. Time spent in the patrol car counts.
• The outer deadline is therefore 22:40 on Wednesday. At 09:00 on Wednesday only 10h20m have elapsed, so the sergeant is correct that the 24-hour maximum has not yet been exceeded - continued detention is not yet unlawful on time alone.
• The sergeant is wrong on the second point. Twenty-four hours is a ceiling, not a target. "As soon as possible" obliges the station to secure the earliest practicable judicial appearance. An incomplete file and an absent investigator are administrative inconveniences, not lawful reasons to hold a man until an afternoon session if a judge can see him sooner.
• The correct answer to the lawyer is: the man will be presented at the earliest available sitting, the reason for any delay must be recorded and objectively justified, and the deadline is 22:40 regardless.

Rights engaged

• To be informed promptly, in a language he understands, of the reason for arrest and of his rights. A refusal to sign the notice is recorded with the reason given; it does not waive the rights or prove they were understood.
• To communicate with a lawyer of his choice and to have a relative or other person informed of the arrest without undue delay, unless a specific, recorded and justified restriction applies.
• To remain silent and not to incriminate himself, and to an interpreter if he does not understand Greek adequately.
• To a medical examination if his condition or complaints require it, and to humane conditions of detention.

What to do now, in order

1. Record in the custody record that the sister and lawyer attended at 09:00 and what was requested.
2. Arrange a private consultation with the lawyer without further delay and log the time it started and ended.
3. Ask the man whom he wishes to have informed and make the call, or record why it was not made.
4. Note any restriction and the objective grounds for it; a general "file not ready" is not such a ground.
5. Bring him before a judge at the earliest possible sitting and put the reason for the timing on the file.

Why it matters

• The 24-hour deadline is calculated from the deprivation of liberty. Using 23:10 pushes the apparent deadline to 23:10 on Wednesday - half an hour of unlawful detention that the paperwork would conceal.
• A record that misstates the start of detention damages the reliability of the whole custody record and of any admissions made during the period.
• Defence counsel will compare the arrest record, the custody register and any radio log. An unexplained discrepancy invites an application challenging the lawfulness of the detention and, in a serious case, exclusion of evidence.

What the custody officer should do

1. Establish the true time from the arresting officers' notes and the radio log - 22:40 on the arrest record is the operative time unless shown otherwise.
2. Correct the register so that it shows the time of arrest as the start of detention, marking the amendment with date, time, signature and the reason for the correction.
3. Record who made the original entry and why, without altering or destroying the original page.
4. Note the corrected deadline (22:40 Wednesday) on the file so the investigating officer and the court list are working from the right time.
5. Report the entry error to the supervisor for an audit, because a pattern of "late" arrival times would systematically extend detention beyond the constitutional limit.