The night you get a call saying a family member has been arrested

News of an arrest usually comes without warning, and often at night or on a weekend. It may be a call from the police made on the person's own mobile phone, or a notice of arrest sent by the police station. After hanging up, most people grab their coat and head for the station, because they feel they will only be at ease once they have seen their family member's face.

A family visit and a meeting with counsel are different

Even if you go to the station, questioning often continues right after the arrest, so families frequently come home without seeing the person. Even if you do meet, it is just a brief chance to ask how they are, and since the conversation may be overheard or recorded, it is hard to talk about the case.

Defense counsel, or a person seeking to become defense counsel, may meet the arrested person (Article 34 of the Criminal Procedure Act). This meeting is where you can discuss what happened, what has been said in questioning so far, and how to give statements from here on. The spouse, lineal relatives and siblings of the arrested person may appoint defense counsel independently of the person (Article 30(2)). Since the arrested person cannot use a mobile phone, in practice the family has to act first.

If the arrested person has no defense counsel, the police must, within 24 hours of the arrest, notify a family member or other person designated by the arrested person in writing of the name of the case, the date, time and place of arrest, the gist of the alleged offense and the reason for arrest (Article 33(1) of the Investigation Rules (수사준칙)). If you receive this notice, take a photo of it, because its contents are the first information defense counsel will check.

The number 48 hours

If a detention warrant is not requested within 48 hours of the arrest, the person must be released (Article 200-2(5) of the Criminal Procedure Act). Questioning continues during this time, and those statements become material for the warrant application and the pre-detention hearing (영장실질심사). An arrested person in a state of panic tends to answer whatever they are asked. The quickest help a family can give is to have defense counsel meet them before the next round of questioning.

Meanwhile, the family gathers documents for the pre-detention hearing: documents showing that this person is not someone who will flee or destroy evidence, such as a resident registration certificate, a family relations certificate and a certificate of employment. Also write down on paper the time of arrest, the police station, the department in charge and the charge.

The time of arrest is the starting point for counting the 48 hours. If the arrested person is taking any medication, it is also the family's job to bring the name of the medicine and the prescription and inform the police station.

What not to do that night

• Contacting the victim or others involved in the case to explain the situation
• Clearing out the arrested person's mobile phone or computer
• Guessing what the arrested person might have said and getting your stories straight with other family members or acquaintances

If something you did in haste is read as an attempt to sway witnesses or destroy evidence, it can instead hasten the very detention you were trying to prevent. What the family needs to do that night is simpler than you might think: write things down, gather documents, and hand them to defense counsel.

Arrests happen at any hour. Jisan Law takes requests for meetings at night and on weekends as well.