Police Custody

An arrest is using legal authority to deprive a person of his or her freedom of movement. In Uganda most arrests are carried out by the police or other security agencies. Here we shall focus on arrests by the police. Once anyone is arrested by the police they are legally supposed to be detained inside a police cell and are referred to as suspects.

Rights of a suspect in Police custody

All suspect in police custody, irrespective of the offence he/ she is alleged to have committed, has rights and these rights include the following;

  1. To be informed in a language they understand of the offence they are suspected to have committed
  2. Not to be subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
  3. To be presumed innocent until proven guilty by a competent Court of Law
  4. To be produced before a competent court within 48 hours
  5. To apply for Police Bond pending investigations into the case.
  6. To be released as soon as possible if no case has been properly framed against them.
  7. To speak to a lawyer of their choice.
  8. To be informed of the progress of their case before they are taken to Court.