Officially accused

You are officially accused once police charge you with an offence or the prosecutor starts court proceedings against you.

Officially accused is a term in the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016. Under section 63, a person becomes officially accused of an offence when a police officer charges them with it, or when the prosecutor starts proceedings against them for it. The distinction matters because many police powers and suspects' rights depend on it. Before you are officially accused, police can hold you for questioning, normally for up to 12 hours, and can release you on investigative liberation. Once you are officially accused, police cannot usually question you about that offence unless a court authorises it. After charge, police must either release you, with or without an undertaking to appear at court, or keep you in custody to appear at court, usually on the next day the court sits.

Checked as at 25 September 2026. General information only, not legal advice.