Provisional arrest for national proceedings

Russian Federation

Criminal Procedural Code of the Russian Federation

Part One. General Provisions

Section III. Proof and Proving

Chapter 12. Detention of the Suspect

Article 91. Grounds for the Detention of the Suspect

1. The body of inquiry (inquest), the inquirer, the investigator or the prosecutor shall have the right to detain the person on suspicion of committing a crime, for which may be administered the punishment in the form of the deprivation of freedom, if one of the following grounds exists:
1) this person is caught red-handed when committing the crime, or immediately after
committing it;
2) the victims or the witnesses point to the given person as the perpetrator of the crime;
3) on this person or in his clothes, near him or in his dwelling undoubted traces of the crime are found.

2. If there exist other data, providing grounds for suspecting the person of the perpetration of the crime, he may be detained if he has made an attempt to flee, or if he does not have a permanent place of residence, or if his person has not been identified, or if the public prosecutor, or the investigator or the inquirer with the consent of the prosecutor, has directed a petition to the court on selecting with respect to the said person a measure of restriction in the form of taking into custody.


Article 92. Procedure for the Detention of the Suspect

1. After the suspect is brought to the body of inquiry, to the investigator or to the public prosecutor, a custody report shall be compiled within a term of not over three hours, in which shall be made a note that the rights, stipulated by Article 46 of the present Code, have been explained to the suspect.

2. In the report shall be pointed out the date and time of compiling it, the date, time and the place of, and the grounds and the motives for the detention, the results of his personal search and other circumstances of his detention. The custody report shall be signed by the person who has compiled it and by the suspect.

3. The body of inquiry, the inquirer or the investigator shall be obliged to report to the public prosecutor about the detention in writing within twelve hours from the moment of detaining the suspect.

4. The suspect shall be interrogated in conformity with the demands of the second part of Article 46 and of Articles 189 and 190 of the present Code. Before the interrogation starts the suspect at his request shall be provided with an opportunity to meet his defence counsel in private and confidentially. Where it is necessary to commit procedural actions with the participation of the suspect, the duration of a meeting exceeding two hours may be limited by the inquirer, investigator and prosecutor with obligatory preliminary notification of the suspect and his/her defence counsel on it. In any case the duration of the meeting may not be less than 2 hours .


Article 93. Personal Search of the Suspect

The suspect may be subjected to a personal search in accordance with the procedure, established by Article 184 of the present Code.


Article 94. Grounds for the Release of the Suspect

1. The suspect shall be released by the decision of the inquirer, of the investigator or of the public prosecutor, if:
1) the suspicion of his committing a crime has not been confirmed;
2) there are no grounds to apply towards him a measure of restriction in the form of taking into custody;
3) the detention was made with a violation of the demands of Article 91 of the present Code.

2. After an expiry of 48 hours from the moment of detention, the suspect shall be released, unless with respect to him is selected a measure of restriction in the form of taking into custody or the court has extended the term of detention in the order, established by Item 3 of the part 7 of Article 108 of the present Code.

3. If the resolution of the judge on the application towards the suspect of the measure of restriction in the form of taking into custody or on an extension of the term of detention does not arrive within 48 hours as from the moment of detention, the suspect shall be immediately set free, about which the head of the place where the suspect was held in custody shall notify the body of inquiry or the investigator, under whose jurisdiction the criminal case is placed, and the public prosecutor.

4. If there exists a ruling or a resolution of the court on the refusal to satisfy the petition of the inquirer, of the investigator or of the public prosecutor for selecting towards the suspect the measure of restriction in the form of taking into custody, a copy of this ruling or resolution shall be handed over to the suspect upon his release.

5. Upon the release of the suspect from custody he shall be issued a reference note, in which it shall be pointed out by whom he was detained, the date, time and the place of, and the grounds for the detention, as well as the date, time of and the grounds for his release .


Article 95. Procedure for Holding the Suspects in Custody

1. The procedure and the conditions for holding the suspects in custody shall be defined by the federal law.

2. If it is necessary to carry out operational-search measures, admissible shall be meetings an officer of the body of inquiry which is carrying out the operational-search activity, with the suspect with the written permission of the inquirer, the investigator, the public prosecutor or of the court, under whose jurisdiction the criminal case is placed.


Article 96. Notification on Detaining the Suspect

1. The inquirer, the investigator or the public prosecutor shall be obliged, not later than in twelve hours from the moment of detaining the suspect, to notify one of his close relatives, and if there are no such relatives - the other relations, or shall provide an opportunity for making such notification to the suspect himself.

2. In case of the detention of the suspect who is a serviceman, the command of the military unit shall be informed.

3. If the suspect is a citizen or a subject of another state, the Embassy or the Consulate of this state shall be notified within the term, pointed out in the first part of the present Article.

4. If in the interests of the investigation it is necessary to keep the fact of the detention in
secret, the notification with the public prosecutor's sanction may be withheld, with the exception of the cases when the suspect is a minor .

Part One. General Provisions

Section III. Proof and Proving

Chapter 13. Measures of Restriction

Article 108. Taking into Custody

1. Taking into custody as a measure of restriction shall be applied through a court decision towards the suspect or the accused of committing crimes for which the criminal court envisages the punishment in the form of the deprivation of freedom for a term of over two years, if it is impossible to apply a different, milder measure of restriction. For choosing a measure of restraint in the form of detention, the concrete circumstances shall be indicated in the judge's ruling which served as the grounds for the judge to adopt such a decision. In the exceptional cases this measure of restriction may be selected with respect to the suspect or the accused of committing a crime, the punishment for which is envisaged in the form of the deprivation of freedom for a term of up to two years, if there exists one of the following circumstances:
1) the suspect or the accused has no permanent place of residence on the territory
of the Russian Federation;
2) his person is not identified;
3) he has violated the earlier selected measure of restriction;
4) he has fled from the bodies of the preliminary investigation or from the court.

2. Taking into custody as a measure of restriction may be applied towards a minor suspect or accused, if he is suspected or accused of committing a grave or an especially grave crime. In the exceptional cases, this measure of restriction may be applied with respect to a minor who is suspected or accused of committing an ordinary crime.

3.If it is necessary to select taking into custody as a measure of restriction, public prosecutor, or investigator and the inquirer with the consent of the public prosecutor, address the court with the corresponding petition. In the resolution on filing the petition shall be described the motives and the grounds, by force of which the need has arisen for taking the suspect or the accused into custody, while selecting a different measure of restriction is impossible. To the resolution shall be enclosed the materials, confirming the substantiation of the petition. If the petition is filed with respect to the suspect detained in the order established by Articles 91 and 92 of the present Code, the resolution and the said documents shall be submitted to the judge not later than eight hours before an expiry of the term of detention.

4. The resolution on filing a petition for the selection of putting into custody as a measure of restraint shall be considered on his own by the judge of the district court or of the military court of the corresponding level, with the participation of the suspect or of the accused, of the public prosecutor and of the counsel for the defence, if such is taking part in the criminal case, at the place of conducting the preliminary investigation or at the place of detention of the suspect, in the course of eight hours from the moment of arrival of the materials at the court. The suspect, detained in accordance with the procedure established by Articles 91 and 92 of the present Code, shall be brought to the court session. The right to take part in the court session shall also be enjoyed by the legal representative of a minor suspect or accused, by the investigator and by the inquirer. The failure of the parties, timely notified about the hour of the court session, to arrive without serious reasons shall not be seen as an obstacle to considering the petition, with the exception of the failure to attend on the part of the accused.

5. The adoption of the court's pre-trial restraining order in the form of detention without the accused's absence is permitted only in case when an international search for the accused is announced .

6. At the start of the session, the judge shall announce what petition is subject to consideration and shall explain their rights and liabilities to the persons who have come to the court session. Then the public prosecutor or, on his orders, the person who has filed the petition shall explain the ground for it, after which the other persons, attending at the court session, shall be heard out.

7. Having considered the petition, th judge shall pass one of the following resolutions:
• 1) on the selection with respect to the suspect or the accused of a measure of
restriction in the form of taking into custody;
2) on the refusal to satisfy the petition;
3) on extending the term of detention. The extension of the term of detention shall be allowable on condition of recognizing the detention by a court of law as rightful and reasoned for a term of 72 hours at most, as of the time of rendering the court decision on the petition of one of the parties for presenting additional proof of reasonableness or unreasonableness of taking the measure of restraint in the form of placing under detention. In the decision on the extension of the term of detention there shall be indicated the date and time up to which the term of detention is extended.

7.1. For the refusal to satisfy the motion for choosing a measure of restraint for the suspector accused in the form of detention, the judge shall be authorised at his own initiative, if there are grounds stipulated by Article 97 of this Code and with account of the circumstances mentioned in Article 99 of this Code, to choose for the suspect or accused the measure of restraint in the form of bail or house arrest.

8. The judge's resolution shall be directed to the person who has filed the petition, to the public prosecutor, to the suspect or to the accused, and shall be subject to an immediate execution.

9. Repeatedly filing with the court a petition for taking into custody one and the same person on one and the same criminal case after the judge has passed the resolution on the refusal to select this measure of restriction, shall only be possible if new circumstances arise, which comprise the ground for the need to take the person into custody.

10. If the question about selection towards the defendant of taking into custody as a measure of restriction arises in the court, the decision to this effect shall be adopted by the court upon a party's petition or at its own initiative, on which a ruling or a resolution shall be passed.

11. The judge's resolution on the selection of taking into custody as a measure of restriction or on the refusal in this, may be appealed with the higher-placed court by way of cassation within three days from the day of passing such. The court of the cassation instance shall take the decision on the complaint or on the presentation not later than three days from the day of its receipt. The cassational court award on the reversal of the judge's ruling on the measure of restraint in the form of detention shall be immediately executed. The cassational court award may be appealed in the exercise of supervisory powers established by Chapter 48 of this Code .

12. The person conducting the proceedings on the criminal case shall be obliged to immediately notify someone of the close relatives of the suspect or of the accused, and if he has no such relatives - the other relations, and if it is a serviceman who is taken into custody - also the command of the military unit, about the place of his being held in custody or about the change of the place of holding him in custody.

13. It is prohibited to endow the powers specified in the present article on one and the same judge on a permanent basis. These powers shall be distributed among the judges of a specific court in compliance with the principle of criminal cases distribution.

14. The requirements of Article 95 of this Code shall extend to the accused kept in custody.


Article 109. Time Terms for Holding in Custody
1. Holding in custody during the inquisition of crimes shall not exceed two months.

2. If it is impossible to complete the preliminary investigation within a term of up to two months and if there are no grounds for changing or for cancelling the measure of restriction, this term may be extended by the judge of the district court or of the military court of the corresponding level in accordance with the procedure, established by the third part of Article 108 of the present Code, for a term of up to six months. Further extension of the term may be effected with respect to the persons, accused of committing grave and especially grave crimes, only if the criminal case is of a particular complexity and if there are grounds for selecting this measure of restriction, by the judge of the same court upon application from the investigator, filed with the consent of the procurator of the subject of the Russian Federation or of the military prosecutor equated with him, for up to twelve months.

3. The term of holding in custody for over twelve months may be extended only in exceptional cases, with respect to the persons accused of committing especially grave crimes, by the judge of the court specified in Part 3 of Article 31 of the present Code, or of the military court of the corresponding level at an application from the investigator, filed with the consent of the Procurator-General of the Russian Federation or of his Deputy, for up to 18 months.

4. A further extension of the said term is inadmissible. The accused, who is held in custody, shall be subject to an immediate release, with the exception of the cases mentioned in Item 1 of the eighth part of this Article .

5. The materials of the criminal case, whose inquisition is completed, shall be presented to the accused, held in custody, and to his counsel for the defence not later than thirty days before the end of the ultimate term for holding in custody, established by the second and the third parts of this Article .

6. If after the end of the preliminary investigation the materials of the criminal case were presented to the accused and to his counsel for the defence later than thirty days prior to the end of the ultimate term for holding in custody, the accused shall be subject to an immediate release after this term expires. In this case, the accused and his counsel for the defence shall retain the right to get acquainted with the materials of the criminal case .

7. If after the end of the preliminary investigation the time terms for the presentation of the materials of the given criminal case to the accused and to his counsel for the defence, stipulated by the fifth part of this Article, were observed, but 30 days fixed for their getting acquainted with the materials of the criminal case have proved insufficient, the investigator shall have the right, with the consent of the procurator of the subject of the Russian Federation, to file an application for an extension of this term with the court specified in Part 3 of Article 31 of the present Code, or with the military court of the corresponding level, not later than seven days prior to an expiry of the ultimate term for holding in custody. If several accused persons kept in custody participate in the proceedings in the criminal case, and if even one of them needs more than 30 days to get acquainted with the materials of the criminal case, then the investigator may file said application as regards very accused or those accused who have got acquainted with the materials of the criminal case, if there is still a need to keep him or them in custody and there are no grounds for applying a different measure of restraint.

8. A petition for extending the term of holding in custody has to be submitted to the court at least seven days before the expiry thereof. The judge shall take one of the following decisions in the manner specified in Parts 4, 8 and 11 of Article 108 of the present Code not later than in five days from the day of receiving the application:
• 1) on an extension of the term of holding in custody untill the moment when the
accused and his counsel for the defence complete getting acquainted with the materials of the criminal case and when the public prosecutor directs the criminal case to the court, with the exception of the case stipulated by the sixth part of this Article;
2) on the refusal in the satisfaction of the investigator's application and in the release of the accused from custody.

9. The term of holding in custody in the period of the preliminary investigation shall be counted as from the moment of taking the suspect or the accused into custody and till the public prosecutor directs the criminal case to the court.

10. Into the term of holding in custody shall be included the time:
• 1) over which the person was held in custody as the suspect;
2) of the home arrest;
3) of being forcibly held at a medical treatment or a psychiatric stationary hospital by the decision of the court;
4) in the course of which the person was held in custody on the territory of a foreign state under an inquiry on rendering legal assistance or on his extradition to the Russian Federation in conformity with Article 460 of the present Code.

11. On the expiry of the maximum term of detention in the instances, provided for by Item 4 of Part Ten of this Article, and when it is necessary to hold a preliminary investigation, the court shall be entitled to extend the term of holding a person in custody in the procedure established by this Article but for six months at the most.

12. If the suspect or the accused is repeatedly taken into custody on one and the same criminal case, as well as on a criminal case combined with it or severed from it, the time term of holding in custody shall be computed with an account for the time which the suspect or the accused has spent in custody earlier.

13. It shall not be allowable to consider by a court the petition for extension of the term of the accused person's holding in custody in the absence thereof, save for the instances of the accused person's passing a stationary forensic psychiatric examination and for other circumstances making it impossible to convey him/her to the court, and it has to be proved by appropriate documents. With this, the participation of the defence counsel in court session shall be obligatory.

14. In the instance provided for by Part Thirteen of this Article, a judge shall render the decision on considering the issue of extending the term of holding in custody in the accused person's absence with an indication of the reasons for which the accused person cannot be present .

Rome Statute

Article 92 Provisional arrest

1. In urgent cases, the Court may request the provisional arrest of the person sought, pending presentation of the request for surrender and the documents supporting the request as specified in article 91.

2. The request for provisional arrest shall be made by any medium capable of delivering a written record and shall contain:

(a) Information describing the person sought, sufficient to identify the person, and information as to that person's probable location;

(b) A concise statement of the crimes for which the person's arrest is sought and of the facts which are alleged to constitute those crimes, including, where possible, the date and location of the crime;

(c) A statement of the existence of a warrant of arrest or a judgement of conviction against the person sought; and

(d) A statement that a request for surrender of the person sought will follow.

3. A person who is provisionally arrested may be released from custody if the requested State has not received the request for surrender and the documents supporting the request as specified in article 91 within the time limits specified in the Rules of Procedure and Evidence. However, the person may consent to surrender before the expiration of this period if permitted by the law of the requested State. In such a case, the requested State shall proceed to surrender the person to the Court as soon as possible.

4. The fact that the person sought has been released from custody pursuant to paragraph 3 shall not prejudice the subsequent arrest and surrender of that person if the request for surrender and the documents supporting the request are delivered at a later date.