Relative in police custody in France: where and what family can learn

The police have arrested your son, your sister or your partner. You call the police station and the answer comes back: "We give no information." For the family of a relative in police custody, that silence often feels harder than the measure itself. A lawyer reviews the situation with you in 20 minutes on Avocat20min.fr.

This article answers a simple question: the police arrest an adult in France and refuse to tell the parents anything, so what does the law say? It also explains how to find out where the person is and what the family can do.

Relative in police custody: why the police say nothing

Two rules explain this silence.

The first is the secrecy of the investigation. Article 11 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure makes the procedure secret during the investigation. Professional secrecy binds police officers and gendarmes.

The second is respect for the adult. The law gives them a right: to have a relative told. It gives the family no right of its own to be informed. So it is your relative in police custody who chooses who gets told, and they may also choose to tell no one.

On the phone, the officer also has no way of checking who you are. A call could come from an accomplice, a victim or a journalist. A refusal therefore does not mean that your relative in police custody is in trouble.

The right to have a relative told

Article 63-2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, as amended by the Law of 22 April 2024, sets the rule. A person in police custody (garde à vue) can have the following told by telephone:

• a person they usually live with;
• a parent or child, a brother or a sister;
• or anyone else they name.

They can also have their employer told. A foreign national can have their consulate contacted.

The call must go out within three hours of the request, unless there is an insurmountable obstacle recorded in the file. The person learns of this right at the start of the measure, with the others (Article 63-1).

The senior police officer (officier de police judiciaire) may also let them speak to that relative directly, in writing, by phone or in a meeting. This exchange lasts 30 minutes at most and takes place under supervision. The officer can refuse it if it would hamper the investigation or risk enabling an offence.

When the family of a relative in police custody is not told

Several situations explain why a family can go hours without news, with nothing unlawful about it.

Situation	What the law says
The adult asked for no one to be told	The family has no right to notice
They chose someone else	Only that person hears
The prosecutor delayed the notice	Allowed to preserve evidence or protect someone (Article 63-2)
Custody beyond 48 hours	The liberty and custody judge or the investigating judge can keep the delay in place
Three-hour window still running	Notice can come up to three hours after the request

A delay by the prosecutor requires a request from the senior police officer and a decision that is "essential" in the circumstances. It cannot cover the consulate beyond 48 hours. This power is exceptional, but it exists: the police can stay silent quite lawfully.

How to find where someone is detained

This is often the main worry: not knowing where your relative in police custody is being held. Here are the steps, in order.

1. Piece together where and when the arrest happened

Police custody normally takes place at the police station or gendarmerie unit covering the place of the events. In towns, this is usually the national police; in rural and outer suburban areas, the gendarmerie. Note the address, the time and, if possible, the unit that made the arrest.

At a protest, the police may spread the people arrested across several police stations. They may also take a person to another unit in charge of the investigation.

2. Call the local police station or gendarmerie

Call the switchboard of the police station or gendarmerie for the area. Give the surname, first name and date of birth of your relative in police custody. Depending on the case, the officer confirms they are there, asks you to call back, or declines to answer.

Bear in mind that no law obliges the unit to tell you. Stay polite, leave your number and ask for it to be passed on. Keep 17 (police emergency) for a real emergency, for example if you fear for their safety.

3. Think of the hospital

If the person may have suffered injuries, contact the emergency departments of nearby hospitals. The police can take an injured person there during the measure. Medical confidentiality may, however, limit what you are told.

4. Contact the duty prosecutor

The senior police officer informs the public prosecutor (procureur de la République) of every police custody as soon as it starts (Article 63). The prosecutor's office at the judicial court (tribunal judiciaire) where the arrest took place therefore knows. You can call the court switchboard and ask for the duty prosecutor, or write. The office has no duty to answer you either, but it safeguards the rights of the person in custody (Article 62-3).

5. Speak to a lawyer

A criminal lawyer knows the local units and duty rotas. They cannot force the police to answer, but they know whom to call for a relative in police custody. The bar also runs a rota of duty lawyers for police custody: the officer contacts it, at the request of the person held.

6. Report a worrying disappearance

If you have no news at all and the absence seems worrying (age, health, circumstances), you can report it at a police station or gendarmerie. Article 74-1 then allows searches under the prosecutor's authority.

After police custody: where might they be?

Police custody lasts 24 hours, and 48 hours at most if the prosecutor extends it, for most offences. Our article on police custody after a protest explains these time limits. At the end, there are several possibilities.

• Release. Your relative walks out, sometimes with a summons to the criminal court (tribunal correctionnel). They will call you themselves.
• Referral to the prosecutor. They go before the prosecutor at the judicial court the same day (Article 803-2). If time runs short, they may stay in the court cells, known as the "dépôt", for twenty hours at most (Article 803-3). They keep the right to have a relative told.
• Immediate trial. The criminal court tries them the same day. The hearing is public: the family can attend.
• Pre-trial detention. If the court cannot sit, or the case is adjourned, the judge can remand the person until the hearing. They then go to a remand prison (maison d'arrêt). Visits require a visiting permit, issued by the judge or prosecutor handling the case.

Before an immediate trial, the family can help in practical ways: give the lawyer proof of address, an employment contract or a certificate of studies. These documents show guarantees that the person will attend court and weigh on the decision.

Can the family appoint a lawyer?

Yes, in one specific case. Article 63-3-1 allows the person who was told under Article 63-2 to appoint a lawyer for the person in custody. The person in custody must then confirm the choice.

In practice, if your relative in police custody had you told, you can choose a lawyer and tell the officer. If you received no notice, you do not have this power. Your relative can still ask for a duty lawyer, paid by the State during police custody.

One point often puzzles families: during the measure, the lawyer may not disclose anything about the interviews or the records to anyone (Article 63-4-4). They will tell you little while custody lasts.

Asking for a medical examination for a relative in police custody

This right is little known. Article 63-3 provides that a medical examination "is of right if a member of the family requests it", when no one else has asked for one. The doctor decides whether the person is fit to remain in custody.

If your relative in police custody takes medication, has a chronic illness or may have been injured, tell the officer and ask for this examination. For ongoing treatment, give the name of the medicine and of the prescribing doctor.

What changes for a minor

For a minor, the logic is reversed. Article L. 413-7 of the Juvenile Criminal Justice Code requires the officer to inform the legal guardians of the placement in custody, after telling the prosecutor. Parents therefore do not need to ask: they are owed the notice.

The prosecutor or investigating judge can depart from this only to preserve evidence or protect someone. Such a delay never exceeds 24 hours, or 12 hours if custody cannot be extended.

Parents also have rights of their own: to ask for a lawyer (Article L. 413-9) and a medical examination (Article L. 413-8). A lawyer is in any case mandatory for a minor. Our guide on a minor arrested explains the procedure.

Protected adults, foreign nationals, employers

A person under guardianship or curatorship

When custody reveals a legal protection measure, the officer must inform the curator or guardian within six hours (Article 706-112-1). The curator or guardian can appoint a lawyer and ask for a medical examination. Here too, the prosecutor can delay the notice.

A foreign national

They can have their consulate contacted. This right resists delay: after 48 hours, neither a delay of notice nor a refusal of contact can apply to the consulate. The family can also contact the consulate on its own.

The employer

The person can have their employer told, without saying why they are being held. The law does not provide for the police to inform the employer on their own initiative.

What the family can do, in short

1. Note the place, time and circumstances of the arrest.
2. Call the local police station or gendarmerie, with the full identity.
3. Check hospitals if the person may have been hurt.
4. Contact the duty prosecutor at the judicial court.
5. Ask for a medical examination if their health worries you.
6. Prepare proof of address and employment for the lawyer.
7. Speak to a lawyer, especially if you were the one told.

The consequences of a conviction on the criminal record can last a long time. It is better to act from the custody stage.

How a lawyer helps

A lawyer explains what the law lets you know and what it protects. They step in for your relative in police custody if you received the notice, prepare an immediate trial and gather the guarantees of attendance. A criminal lawyer answers in 20 minutes, during or after police custody.

The rights of a person in custody appear on the service-public police custody page.