Arrested in Bratislava: 48 hours, then the court's 48

The prosecutor's motion and the court's turn: what to decide in between

Slovak procedure runs in stages, and between the stages there are gaps in which choices must be made. The police may take a person into custody where grounds for pre-trial detention exist and a decision cannot be obtained in advance; the prosecutor must then file a motion within a set period, and the court must decide within another. The person's position depends on what happens in those gaps.

• Answer questions without a lawyer, or ask for counsel before speaking. The Slovak provisions require that you be questioned without delay, so the pressure to talk comes early. The price of speaking is a record before counsel has seen the file; the price of waiting is a slower start and, sometimes, a tense atmosphere with the investigator.
• Use the telephone call you are allowed. You are entitled to a short call to a person you specify. Using it to reach a relative who can find a lawyer is almost always right; using it to explain the case is not.
• Offer assurances to the court, or save them. A fixed address, an employer's letter or a relative's undertaking can be offered when the court decides on detention. If they are held back, the court sees only the prosecutor's picture.

The special periods for the gravest offences and for terrorism make the clock longer, so a family should never assume that the usual time limits apply. Ask the lawyer which limits govern this arrest and when each limit ends.

Who lands on a Bratislava page

Bratislava is a compact capital on the Danube, close to Austria and Hungary, and the people who end up in its police stations come from a wide range of situations. Most never expected it.

• The weekend visitor. A group travelling for a few days is involved in a dispute in the old town, a taxi disagreement, or an incident with security staff. A member of the group is arrested while the others try to understand what has happened.
• The traveller in transit. The city sits on road and rail routes between Italy, Central Europe and beyond, and drivers and passengers are stopped at checks. A load, a document or an alert causes a detention.
• The relative at home. You are told by a companion or by the embassy that a person is in custody, and the only information is a name and a city. You need to know who is in charge, what the next step is and how long it takes.
• The person who has moved to Slovakia. An Italian working or studying in the country is arrested at home, and the news reaches the family through an employer or friend.

All of them face a system with short deadlines, a language that few Italians read, and procedures that differ from the Italian ones. This page is meant to give you the outline, so that you can ask the right questions in the earliest calls.

Bratislava's border position and your job, home and car

Because Bratislava sits so close to neighbouring countries, many people who are arrested there have lives in several places. That makes the daily consequences more tangled than in a purely local arrest.

A person who commutes across a border for work loses the job in a country and may also lose a lease in another. A driver who is detained leaves a vehicle and a load that someone else must collect, and an employer who learns of the arrest from a customs notice may react harshly. A student on exchange risks a term.

The family has practical tasks:

• Inform the employer briefly and factually, ideally through a relative or the lawyer, without describing the allegation.
• Arrange for the vehicle, the cargo and any hired equipment to be collected, and find out whether the authorities have seized them as evidence.
• Pay attention to rent, insurance and instalments in each country the person lives or works in.
• Contact schools or carers if children depend on the detained person.

Passports can be retained, and a person who is released may be unable to leave the country immediately. A flight home booked with no flexibility becomes a lost fare. Family members who plan to travel should choose a flexible ticket and book accommodation that can be extended, because hearings follow the court's schedule and not the visitor's.

Slips that cost you in Slovak custody

The short Slovak periods leave little room for correction, so the errors made in the earliest hours matter more. These points concern conduct and apply equally to the person held and to the family.

• Do not give an unprepared account. Because questioning must happen without delay, the temptation is to explain everything. An early account given without a lawyer is the version that will be compared with every later version.
• Do not sign a record you cannot read. Ask for the interpreter to read it aloud, and ask for objections to be noted.
• Do not waste the telephone call. The call is short and goes to a person you name. Use it to say where you are, who you need, and nothing about the facts.
• Do not discuss the case in calls from custody. Calls may be heard, and relatives who repeat what they were told create a parallel version.
• Do not delete messages or reset devices. Deletion looks like concealment and can often be reversed by forensic tools.
• Do not post about the arrest. Social media entries are collected and can be read as pressure on witnesses.
• Do not pay people who offer to fix it. Promises of influence are the usual sign of a scam targeting frightened families.

A shared rule in the family helps: a nominated person speaks to the lawyer and the embassy, and nobody else makes calls to the Slovak authorities.

What to line up for a Slovak detention hearing

The court decides on detention within a short period after the prosecutor's motion, so the documents that matter are the ones that can be produced quickly. Aim for clear photographs of the following, and send them to the lawyer immediately.

• Identity and residence: passport or identity card, proof of address in the country of residence, and a residence permit if the person is not an Italian citizen.
• Everything issued in Slovakia: the record of custody, any decision, the information on rights, and the name of the investigator or prosecutor.
• Evidence of stability: employment contract, payslips, a letter from an employer, a lease or property deed, school enrolment of children.
• Proof of the trip: tickets, bookings, rental papers and receipts, which show where the person was and when.
• Medical records and prescriptions, so that treatment in custody can be requested without delay.
• Prior records in any country, including old alerts, since a database entry can lie behind the arrest.
• A trusted contact in Slovakia or nearby, if any, who can offer an address or attend a hearing.

Put the originals in a safe place and send only copies. The lawyer will say which pages need an official translation and which can be handled later. Keep a log of what was sent, when and to whom.

Bratislava, Vienna, Italy: routes in and out

Bratislava is easily reached from Vienna, a short way up the Danube by rail or road, and many Italians arrive that way rather than by a direct flight. That proximity helps a family that wants to visit, but it can create a false sense of closeness: access to a detainee is arranged through the authority and the lawyer, not by presenting yourself at the door.

The language is Slovak, and the formal acts are conducted in it. English can be used in tourism, but it is not the language of the proceedings, and a person should ask for an interpreter and insist on that. A phone translation tool is no substitute when a statement is being recorded.

Italy has diplomatic representation in the capital. The embassy can confirm the detention and pass messages, and it may ask about conditions, but it does not provide or fund a defence.

If the case has an Italian dimension, the following points arise:

• Italian documents must be translated into Slovak and sometimes certified before use.
• Papers should be sent by tracked courier, not by ordinary post, and early.
• The Slovak and Italian lawyers must agree who speaks to which authority, so that statements are consistent.

The studio coordinates the Italian side and works with Slovak counsel in the language that suits them.

How the studio handles a Slovak arrest

The studio takes urgent arrests at any hour. Instructions can be given by phone or email, using the contacts on this site, and no visit to an office is required. Offices in Rome, Milan and Naples serve for meetings later.

The initial message should include the full name, date of birth, the place and authority of the arrest, and any paper received. A signed engagement returns as a photograph or scan. The studio then calls to establish the order of events, to ask what the person has said or signed, and to identify which of the Slovak periods is running.

In Slovakia the studio works with a lawyer admitted there, who appears before the prosecutor and the court. The Slovak lawyer addresses the authorities; the studio explains the position in Italian or English, prepares Italian documents and handles any link to Italian proceedings. It does not make promises about outcome and it does not replace local counsel.

The family receives updates through a nominated contact. Slovakia keeps the same clock as Italy, so conversations between the lawyers and the family fall within the same working day. If the person is moved, the studio asks the local lawyer to report immediately, because a transfer can happen without notice. Where the arrest involves a vehicle or cargo, the studio also helps the family decide who should deal with the seizure and the owner of the goods.

Questions about the prosecutor's motion and the court's decision

The Slovak system is built around successive decisions. These questions go to both. Ask them in the opening call and write down the answers.

• Has the person been placed in custody by the police, and on what ground?
• When was the custody ordered, and by when must the prosecutor file the motion?
• When must the court decide, and which longer periods could apply because of the nature of the offence?
• Has the person used the permitted telephone call, and who was contacted?
• What will the prosecutor argue to the court, and what documents does the defence have to answer it?
• What alternatives to detention exist for a non-resident, and what conditions would they impose?
• Who will interpret at the hearing, and can the family see the record before it is signed?
• Is there an Italian or European element that could produce a warrant or a request?
• What do you need from us today, and when will you report again?

Write the answers down and share them with the family contact, so that everyone works from the same facts.

Slovak custody vocabulary

These terms appear on this page and on the papers a family may receive. A plain reading helps with calls to the lawyer and with checking that a document says what you were told.

• Police custody: the early measure taken where grounds for pre-trial detention exist and the decision cannot be obtained in advance; the person must be questioned without delay.
• Prosecutor's motion: the request the prosecutor files, within a set period, asking the court to order pre-trial detention.
• Court decision: the ruling on that request, which must follow within a further set period; longer periods apply to especially grave crimes.
• Especially grave crimes: a category of offence for which the period to decide is extended.
• Terrorism offences: a category for which the period to file the motion is longer still.
• Telephone call: a short call to a person the detainee specifies, stated as an entitlement.
• Pre-trial detention: custody while the investigation or trial proceeds; it is a precaution and not a punishment.
• Hearing: the session at which the court decides on the motion, with the defence present.

If a document uses a word that is not in this list, send a photograph to the lawyer before answering.