Arrested in Prague: 72 hours, split between police and judge
Czech detention has a hard ceiling in a police cell, split in two parts: the police have a fixed window to gather the material and present the case to a judge, and the judge then has a further period to decide between remand and release. Defence counsel is required throughout detention and is assigned where nobody has been appointed. Prague also receives an enormous volume of stag and group weekends, and the caseload shows it, because one incident routinely produces several suspects whose accounts contradict each other and attribution has to be established for each of them separately.
A detail worth knowing before it happens is that there is a cell at Václav Havel airport, so people stopped in transit are held on the spot rather than moved into the city. What changes for you now is the speed: the material that answers the remand question has to reach the lawyer while that short window is still running.
Avv. Massimo Romano — Ordine degli Avvocati di Napoli n. 14553, patrocinante in Cassazione dal 23/10/2015 — Roma, Via Avicenna 97, 00146 · Milano, Via Giuseppe Pecchio 3, 20129 · Napoli, Corso Umberto I 237, 80138 — +39 335 669 3954
In brief
- The ceiling on time in a police cell is absolute, and it covers both the police window for presenting the case and the period the judge has to rule on remand.
- Where the arrest is made on a warrant, the matter is referred to a court within the term set by the code and the judge then decides within a further term.
- Pre-trial detention runs in categories according to the seriousness of the offence, and part of that period may fall within the investigation rather than the trial.
- A lawyer is required throughout detention, and one is assigned where the person held has not appointed anybody, which is not the same as having counsel briefed by the family.
- Group weekends create the attribution problem in its purest form, because several accounts of the same night exist and the file will prefer whichever reached the officers intact.
- Czech law is more permissive than most of Europe on small quantities but fully severe on supply, and the line between the two is drawn on circumstances rather than on substance alone.
- Disputes over bills in venues, and currency exchange disagreements in the centre, turn into fraud complaints in both directions with surprising regularity.
- Only a lawyer admitted in the Czech Republic can appear before its courts, which leaves the Italian end to cover a parallel proceeding, a warrant issued by Italy or an alert in circulation.
The Czech clock
| Step | Rule | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum in a police cell | 72 hours | The absolute ceiling |
| Police | 48 hours to present the case to a judge | Evidence gathered in that window |
| Judge | A further 24 hours to decide | Remand or release |
| Arrest on a warrant | Referral to a court within 24 hours | Judge decides within 24 more |
| Pre-trial detention | One to four years depending on the offence category | One third may fall in the investigation |
| Defence counsel | Required throughout detention | Assigned if not appointed |
Detention at Václav Havel airport is a specific point worth knowing: there is a cell there, and people stopped in transit are held on the spot rather than moved into the city.
What actually happens in Prague
- Stag and group weekends. A single incident routinely produces several suspects whose accounts contradict each other, and attribution has to be established for each — the position is in the guide on being charged with others.
- Nightlife in the centre: fights, public order, and disputes with venues over bills that escalate into complaints.
- Drugs. Czech law is more permissive than most of Europe on small quantities but fully severe on supply, and the line is drawn on circumstances.
- Theft accusations in the old town and on public transport.
- Currency exchange disputes, which turn into fraud complaints in both directions.
- The airport: customs, luggage and arrests on international alerts including in transit.
The German border is close, and cross-border traffic in synthetic substances is a standing concern of both authorities. The German end of the same route is in the guide for Dresden.
Where an Italian lawyer comes in
Only a lawyer admitted in the Czech Republic can appear before its courts. The Italian side covers the rest: selecting and briefing that lawyer, explaining the position to the family in their own language, and handling anything with an Italian end — a parallel proceeding, a warrant issued by Italy, an alert in circulation. The model is in how a correspondent case is run.
The custody period is not a single block but a sequence, and different people decide at each point. The table follows it through.
| Stage | What happens | Who decides |
|---|---|---|
| Time in a police cell | The absolute ceiling within which everything else must occur | Fixed by the code, not by anybody's discretion |
| The police window | Material is gathered and the case is presented to a court | Police, under the direction of the prosecutor |
| The judicial decision | Remand or release, on the material as it stands | The judge, who cannot extend the ceiling |
| Arrest on a warrant | Referral to a court, then a ruling within a further term | The court seised of the warrant |
| Pre-trial detention | Runs in categories according to the offence alleged | The court, on periodic review |
Frequently asked questions
How long can Czech police hold me?
Seventy-two hours at most: forty-eight for the police to present the case to a judge, and twenty-four for the judge to decide.
How long can pre-trial detention last?
From one to four years depending on the category of offence, with one third of that available during the investigation.
Several of us were arrested together.
Attribution has to be established for each person. Accounts agreed between suspects are the fastest route to a further charge.
Are small quantities of drugs tolerated?
Czech law is more permissive than most of Europe on small quantities, but supply is fully severe and the line is drawn on circumstances rather than amount alone.
If this is happening now
First contact is free and covered by professional privilege, at any hour including nights and holidays.
The people who search for this at night
Most readers arrive in a few typical situations. The commonest is a group trip gone wrong: a weekend that began with a flight and a hotel booking and now includes a police station, a friend who has not answered his phone for hours, and a group chat full of guesses. The people left behind in the hotel do not know whether the missing friend is being questioned, charged or already in a cell, and they do not know whom to ask.
Another reader is a parent, partner or sibling at home in Italy or elsewhere who has had a short, confused call. The voice on the line may have been the arrested person, a friend, or an official who spoke only Czech or hurried English. The family has a name, a city and a sense of dread, but no case number, no charge and no idea what clock is running. They want to know what to do in the next hour and what must wait until morning.
Another reader is the arrested person, released after a long night or still waiting, who has been handed papers in a language they cannot read and told to sign. They want to know whether signing means admitting something and whether leaving the country is allowed.
All of these readers share a need: a clear picture of how the Czech procedure moves, who decides what, and where an Italian lawyer can help from a distance. This page gives that picture in plain terms. It cannot tell you what will happen in your case, but it can tell you which questions to ask, in what order, and how to avoid the mistakes that are easiest to make under stress.
What an arrest in Prague does to the days that follow
The effects reach well beyond the cell. A person held in Prague misses the return flight, and with it the shift, the school run or the meeting that was waiting at home. Airlines do not refund the seat, hotels keep charging for the room, and travel insurers often exclude events connected with an arrest, so the money problem begins immediately. Employers want an explanation, and a short absence that cannot be explained can turn into a disciplinary matter.
Phones and bags are usually taken and listed. Without a phone the arrested person cannot call anyone, check a bank balance or reach the people who hold their documents. Passports may be retained or the person told not to leave. Friends who travelled together find themselves interviewed as witnesses, and the group dynamic that was a source of fun becomes a source of mutual suspicion. A weekend away can leave a lasting strain on friendships.
At home, relatives take on a role they never wanted: gathering papers, finding a lawyer, calling the consulate and fielding questions from neighbours. If the detained person is the household earner, rent, loans and childcare all become urgent. If the matter becomes public, there can be consequences for professional reputation, particularly for people in regulated jobs.
Plan for these practical consequences alongside the legal ones. Make a short list of what depends on the arrested person being back by a certain date, and give it to the lawyer so that any request for release or for permission to travel can be framed around real need.
A group case is not several identical cases. What separates the people in it is rarely the night itself but what can be shown about each of them.
| Element | What the file tends to assume | What can separate you from it |
|---|---|---|
| Presence at the scene | That everybody present took part | Camera footage, timings and the position of each person |
| Statements by the others | That the account given earliest is the reliable one | Records that contradict it, rather than a competing story |
| Who caused the injury | That responsibility can be shared across the group | Medical findings matched to a particular act |
| Agreement between suspects | That matching accounts confirm the events | Nothing; an agreed version is the quickest route to a further charge |
| Payment or the bill | That a dispute over a bill was a refusal to pay | Card records, receipts and the sequence of what was ordered |
The choices of the coming hours
The next hours bring a handful of decisions, and each carries a price. The most important is whether to answer questions. The police are collecting material during the period they are allowed, and a statement made while exhausted, in a language you do not master, can be fixed in the record in a form you did not intend. Silence feels uncomfortable and sometimes provokes pressure, but it can always be broken later with a lawyer beside you. A statement can never be taken back.
The next choice is about interpretation and paper. You are entitled to understand what you are signing. Insisting on an interpreter and on a translated text slows things down and irritates officers, but it protects you from signing a description of events that is subtly wrong. If you cannot get a translation, say so in writing on the document before signing.
Another choice is whom to call. You can ask for a lawyer of your own, accept the lawyer assigned locally, or both. Local counsel is needed because the proceedings are Czech. An Italian lawyer can coordinate, explain the system to your family and manage the Italian side, but cannot appear in a Czech court as a Czech advocate. The price of delay here is real, because the period before the judge is short.
Finally, decide who is told: family, employer, consulate. Telling the consulate is nearly always sensible, since it can confirm where you are held. Telling the employer can wait until facts are clear.
What to gather right now
Whoever is outside the cell, whether a friend, relative or the person after release, can do a great deal by assembling documents. A lawyer on either side of the border works faster and more accurately when the following are available.
- Identity papers, as clear photographs, so the lawyer can confirm full names, dates of birth and nationality as they will appear in the Czech record.
- Every piece of paper handed over by the police, photographed in full. It shows the stage reached and the time the clock started.
- The name of the police station or detention facility, and the name or number of any officer who spoke to you, written down exactly.
- The time and place of the arrest, because everything is counted from that moment.
- Travel records: flight bookings, hotel confirmation, tickets and receipts. They show where you were and when, and often matter to the account of events.
- A list of everyone you were with, with phone numbers, because they may be witnesses or may be affected too.
- Contact details of the consulate and a record of any call made to it.
- Insurance papers, in case cover for legal assistance or repatriation exists.
- Medical information: medicines taken, conditions, allergies. Detention does not always respect those needs unless somebody states them.
Questions worth putting to the lawyer
Many people assume the lawyer will simply explain what is going on. The better approach is to arrive with questions that force specifics, because arrests in a foreign city generate a lot of vague reassurance and very little clarity.
- At what exact moment did the clock start, and by when must the police bring me or my relative before a judge?
- Who is the local lawyer, how are they chosen, and what exactly will they do that the Italian lawyer cannot?
- Are we dealing with an offence or something lesser, and what is the police alleging at this moment?
- What are the options for release, and what conditions would a judge be likely to attach?
- If remand is ordered, where would the person be held, and how can relatives write, call or visit?
- How do translations and interpreters work, and can we challenge a statement signed without an interpreter?
- What happens to a phone, passport and luggage that were taken?
- If the person is released, can they leave the country, and what must they do to remain available?
- Will anything appear on an Italian record, and does the Italian side of the matter need its own steps?
Ask the lawyer to put the answers in writing, even in a few lines, so the family can refer back when stress makes memory unreliable.
A case from Prague usually has two halves running at once. Here is the division of work between them.
| Task | Handled in Prague | Handled from Italy |
|---|---|---|
| Appearing before the court | Only counsel admitted locally can do it | Not possible, however serious the matter |
| Access to the Czech file | Obtained by local counsel | Reviewed and explained to the family in their own language |
| A parallel Italian proceeding | Outside its reach | Dealt with directly, including anything pending at home |
| A warrant or alert issued by Italy | Raised as a fact in the Czech file | Attacked at its source, where that is possible |
| Choosing and briefing counsel | The lawyer who will appear | Selection, briefing and the material the family provides |
When the case sits between Prague and Italy
A Czech arrest of an Italian national, or of a foreigner with ties to Italy, creates parallel systems that rarely talk to each other at the speed the family would like. The Czech authorities act in Czech, on Czech rules and on Czech time. Italian authorities may become involved afterwards, for instance if the same facts are of interest at home or if a transfer of proceedings is considered, but that comes later and is no help during the early period.
Documents are the greatest source of friction. A Czech paper may need a sworn translation and formal certification before it is used in Italy, and the process takes days, sometimes longer when post is involved. Italian papers that the Czech side asks for, such as proof of residence or of a clean record, face the same route in reverse. Start collecting them immediately and scan everything.
Time zones are modest here, but office hours are not. A call to a Czech court registry or a prison administration must be placed in working hours, and answers may come late. Agree with the lawyers who will be the single contact for the family so that several people do not ring the same office with the same question.
The consulate is the bridge for basic matters: confirming the person is held, passing messages, and in some cases visiting. It does not choose the lawyer, pay for the defence or interfere in the merits. Treat it as a source of reliable information about the person's welfare, nothing more, and use it to give relatives certainty on the simple facts.
How the office works on arrests abroad
Contact is by phone on +39 335 669 3954 or by email at avvmassimoromano@gmail.com, and calls about someone currently in custody are treated as urgent, including outside normal hours. In the initial conversation you will be asked where the person is, when they were taken, what papers exist and whether a local lawyer has already been engaged.
The office works in English as well as Italian, so relatives who do not read Italian are not left to rely on guesses. You will be asked to send photographs of documents by a secure route, and the lawyer will read them before suggesting a plan. That plan separates what has to happen in Prague from what can be done in Italy, and it names who is responsible for each part.
The Italian lawyer does not replace Czech counsel. The office identifies and liaises with a lawyer qualified in the Czech Republic, agrees the division of tasks, and keeps the family informed through a single point of contact. Where the person is held, the office can help prepare a message for the consulate, assemble the documents the local lawyer will need and explain Czech steps to relatives in plain terms.
Engagement is confirmed in writing, with the scope and fees stated up front. There are offices in Rome at Via Avicenna 97, Milan at Via Giuseppe Pecchio 3 and Naples at Corso Umberto I 237, and meetings can be held in person or by video.
Things not to do while the clock is running
In an arrest abroad the most damaging mistakes are usually made in the early hours, by well-meaning people. Avoid the following.
- Do not sign a statement you cannot read. A signature turns whatever is written into your account. Ask for an interpreter and a translation, and note any refusal.
- Do not guess at answers. If you are unsure about a date or a detail, say so. A wrong guess is later treated as a lie.
- Do not discuss the case with fellow detainees. Cell conversations are not private, and others may repeat what they hear.
- Do not let friends post anything. A photograph from the weekend, a joke in a group chat or a status update can reach the file and be misread.
- Do not delete messages or photos on phones that remain with you. Deletion looks like concealment and often fails technically.
- Do not hire the person who offers help through a hotel, a taxi driver or a stranger. Check who they are and who pays them.
- Do not pay anyone to speed the process up. It is dangerous and can create a new problem.
- Do not make promises to officers in exchange for leniency without advice. Informal deals can bind you without protecting you.
Terms you will see on Czech and Italian papers
These words appear on this page and are likely to appear on documents given to you or your family. Knowing them avoids panic over a term that sounds worse than it is.
- Police cell is the holding place used during the initial period, run by the police, as opposed to a prison. Time here is counted strictly, and the maximum is the ceiling the law sets.
- Judge in this setting is the person who decides, after the police have presented the case, whether you are held or released. They are not a prosecutor.
- Remand means being held in custody while the case is investigated, before any trial. It is not a conviction.
- Release may be unconditional or may carry conditions such as reporting, staying in the country or surrendering a passport.
- Arrest on a warrant describes an arrest made because a court has already ordered it, which follows a different path from an arrest made on the spot.
- Pre-trial detention is the longer period of custody that can follow remand, with its own limits depending on the category of offence.
- Evidence is the material the police gather within their window to show the judge why the person should not simply be released.
If a document contains a term not listed here, ask the lawyer to translate and explain it before anyone responds.
About the lawyer
People write to this office from places where Italian is not spoken, and often with documents they cannot read. That is the starting point of the work rather than an obstacle to it. Avv. Massimo Romano practises criminal law and appears before the Court of Cassation; alongside ordinary Italian proceedings he deals with surrender requests, extradition, and the situation of foreign nationals facing charges in Italy. Send or read out what you have: a notice, a receipt from a search, the name of the prison, a lawyer's letter in another language. He will tell you what the document is and what it obliges you to do. The call is followed by a written note setting out what the office can take on, how the file will be handled between Rome, Milan and Naples, and who in the family will be kept informed. Those conversations are held in English whenever that is what the family needs.
Write on WhatsApp or call. Have ready the identity details of the person concerned and a photograph of every page you have received, in whatever language it is written.
Avv. Massimo Romano — criminal defence lawyer, admitted to the Italian Court of Cassation
Iscritto all'Ordine degli Avvocati di Napoli n. 14553 | Patrocinante in Cassazione dal 23/10/2015
Roma, Via Avicenna 97, 00146 · Milano, Via Giuseppe Pecchio 3, 20129 · Napoli, Corso Umberto I 237, 80138
+39 335 669 3954 · WhatsApp