No, apart from basic identity details. Under section 34 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016, a person in police custody must give their name, address, date of birth, place of birth and nationality, but is under no obligation to answer any other question. Police must remind you of this before any interview. Choosing to stay silent, or to answer 'no comment', is a legal right, and asking for a solicitor does not suggest you have done anything wrong. Anything you do say can be recorded and used as evidence.

Not just because you are being searched. The Code of Practice says you have no obligation to give your name, address or date of birth for the search record, and officers should not ask for them for that purpose. However, a different rule applies if an officer reasonably suspects you have committed or are committing an offence. Under section 13 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 they can then require your name, address, date of birth, place of birth and nationality, and refusing without reasonable excuse is an offence with a fine of up to £1,000.

Usually no more than 12 hours. The clock starts when a sergeant authorises your detention at the police station, and an inspector must review whether you still need to be held after 6 hours. An inspector (a chief inspector if you are under 18) can extend this by a further 12 hours, to a maximum of 24 hours, but only for an indictable offence and where the investigation is being carried out diligently. You or your solicitor can make representations first. After the limit, you must be charged or released.

Yes. Advice from a solicitor while you are in police custody in Scotland is free, whatever your income or savings. You have a legal right to a private consultation with a solicitor at any time, by phone or in person, and to have a solicitor present during a police interview. You can name your own solicitor or ask for the duty solicitor. Solicitors who give this advice are independent of the police, and asking for one does not make it look as if you have done something wrong.

Scotland has no law allowing a court or jury to draw an adverse inference from silence in a police interview. That is a key difference from England and Wales, where the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 allows such inferences. A Scottish jury should not be invited to treat a 'no comment' interview as evidence of guilt. However, staying silent also means your side of events is not recorded at that stage, and anything you do say can be used. A solicitor can advise on the best approach in your case.

A Recorded Police Warning is a warning given by a police officer, rather than the Procurator Fiscal, for certain less serious offences committed by adults aged 18 or over, under guidelines issued by the Lord Advocate. You do not have to admit the offence, but you must be given the choice to accept or refuse. If you refuse, the case can be reported to the fiscal, and your refusal will be noted. Warnings are generally not used for sexual offences, domestic abuse, hate crime or where more than superficial injury was caused.

Since 1 April 2025, a conviction for an offence committed when you were under 18 is generally spent immediately, because of changes made by the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020. It will not appear on a Level 1 disclosure and you do not usually have to declare it. There are two exceptions: a custodial sentence of more than 48 months, which never becomes spent, and a custodial sentence of more than 12 months for certain sexual offences, which has a disclosure period. Childhood convictions can still appear on Level 2 and PVG checks, but only after Disclosure Scotland reviews whether they should be included.

Scotland's drink-drive limit is 22 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, 50 milligrammes in 100 millilitres of blood, or 67 milligrammes in 100 millilitres of urine. These limits have applied since 5 December 2014 under the Road Traffic Act 1988 (Prescribed Limit) (Scotland) Regulations 2014. They are lower than the limits in the rest of the UK, so an amount of alcohol that is legal elsewhere could put you over the limit in Scotland. There is no reliable safe amount to drink before driving, and alcohol can still be in your system the next morning.

No. The not proven verdict was abolished for criminal trials that started on or after 1 January 2026, under the Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Act 2025. Juries and judges now return a verdict of either guilty or not guilty on each charge, in both summary and solemn cases. A trial counts as starting when the first witness takes the oath in a summary case, or when the jury is sworn in a solemn case. A not proven verdict given in an earlier trial had the same legal effect as not guilty: the person was acquitted and cannot normally be tried again for the same charge.

In an emergency, or if a crime is happening now, call 999. For non-emergencies, call Police Scotland on 101, or use the online reporting options on the Police Scotland website for some types of crime. If you want to stay anonymous, you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. When you report a crime, you should be given a reference number. Police Scotland can refer you to victim support services, and from 1 October 2026 the police must explain your right to be referred and pass on your details if you agree.