CRIMINAL PROCEDURE CODE

PART II
ON ORDINARY PROCEDURES

TITLE I
ON INVESTIGATION

CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

SECTION III
DETENTION

Article 223
Releasing an a person under arrest

1. Any entity who has ordered an arrest or to whom the person under arrest has been delivered shall release the latter immediately :

(a) as soon as it becomes evident that the arrest was carried out in a situation of mistaken identity ;
(b) if it has been carried out outside the cases and the conditions provided in the law, namely in the cases where the 72-hour period to present the detainee has been exceeded ;
(c) as soon as such order becomes unnecessary.

2. Release is preceded by a writ if the arrest has been ordered by the public prosecutor or the judge and, in the case of another entity, through the subsequent preparation of a report to be attached to the case file.

3. Any release carried out on the initiative of any police entity, before the person under arrest has been presented to the judge, must be notified to the public prosecutor, under the penalty of disciplinary liability.