Correct on the date of publication - 13 April 2026
Question:
The relevant time is sometimes calculated from the time the arrested person arrives at the police station. Has the term "arrives at the police station" ever been tested in the courts?
Answer:
Whether a person is detained at a police station as a consequence of their arrest, or they are answering bail, establishing the ‘relevant time’ is crucial for the application of the time limits contained within PACE, relating to detaining the person without charge.
Section 41(2) of PACE provides that the time from which the period of detention of a person is to be calculated ('the relevant time') shall be the time at which that person arrives at the relevant police station; or the time 24 hours after the time of that person's arrest, whichever is the earlier.
On occasions, detainees are kept waiting in police vehicles outside the custody office, within the precincts of the station, for a substantial amount of time. As a result, questions have arisen as to whether the relevant time commences whilst they are awaiting entry to the custody suite, or whether it is postponed until they are inside the building.
The expression "arrives at the police station" has not been subject to examination in the Appeal Courts. However, the term "the time the person arrives at the police station" is composed of ordinary everyday English words in common usage. Applying the principles enunciated in Brutus v Cozens (1972) the words should be given their ordinary, everyday meaning. Adopting this approach, the time of arrival at the police station is that time the person is within the building or the precincts or curtilage thereof. Developing this point, by way of example, the time you arrive at your destination by air; is not the time you are processed by immigration or customs, but the time the aircraft touches down.
That the term "time of arrival at the police station" is something different from the time of the processing the prisoner by the custody officer, is evidenced by section 41(2)(c) of the Act in respect of a person who voluntarily attends a police station or accompanies a constable to a police station without having been arrested, and who is arrested subsequently at the police station. The relevant time in such case is fixed as commencing at the time of arrest.
Furthermore, Code of Practice C, which deals with the detention, treatment and questioning of persons by police officers and the commencement of a custody record, states at paragraph 2.1A (our emphasis added):
2.1A When a person:
- is brought to a police station under arrest
- is arrested at the police station having attended there voluntarily or
- attends a police station to answer bail
they must be brought before the custody officer as soon as practicable after their arrival at the station or if applicable, following their arrest after attending the police station voluntarily. This applies to both designated and non-designated police stations. A person is deemed to be 'at a police station' for these purposes if they are within the boundary of any building or enclosed yard which forms part of that police station.
In our opinion, the relevant time begins when a person arrives within the boundary of a police station/yard. Given that PACE was introduced to ensure that detainees were dealt with fairly and expediently, if the triage system is being used to circumvent the relevant time by not allowing detainee’s inside of the gates in order to push back the relevant time starting and wait times outside of the gates becomes excessive, therefore not within the spirit of PACE, it may be challenged.
Though section 45(2) of PACE records that any reference in part IV of the Act (which relates to detention) to a period of time or a time of day is to be treated as approximate only; it is submitted that whilst this might facilitate a few minutes lee-way; it does not extend to substantial amounts of time.
Where a person is answering bail then they are deemed to have answered their bail at the point they have attended at a police station, even if they are not dealt with at that time. However, this is only where a suspect has answered their bail at the appointed time but the relevant officers have not been ready to deal with them. This is because the delay is the fault of officers and the suspect should not be disadvantaged for complying with his legal obligations. (For further explanation regarding this, please see our Legal Q&A: Custody clock - delays in putting person answering bail before custody officer
View the full Legal Q&A document here, with links to related and similar legal questions.
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