When a family member is arrested the first thing to do is find out where he is being held and, where appropriate, at the request of which investigation group.
Once the fact of the arrest has been known, the most advisable thing is to entrust the assistance to a professional in the matter, specifically to a lawyer with experience in these matters.
It is possible that the detainee has appointed a lawyer to assist him before the police authority, but it is also possible that this has not happened, if so, you can hire a lawyer for such purposes. Otherwise, the detained person will always be assisted by a public defender.
Detention is regulated in article 520 of the Criminal Procedure Act and must be scrupulously respectful of the provisions of the precept.
As a summary as to how the detention should be, it must last the time strictly necessary to carry out the investigations aimed at clarifying the facts and never more than 72 hours, after that period, the detainee must be released or available to court. In order to know these details, there is a police obligation to collect the place and time of detention in the certificate.
Article 520 LECrim is an extensive and intense precept, because it includes how detention should be carried out and what are the rights of the detained person.
The content of the aforementioned precept has been reformed on different occasions, being the highlight of the last reform of 2015 the express recognition of the obligation of the Security Forces of the State to ensure constitutional rights to honor, privacy and image of the detainee, with the corresponding respect for freedom of information.
Fundamental for lawyers to carry out their work in defense of the detained person is the recognition of the detainee’s right to meet with his lawyer even before he is received a statement at a police headquarters, it is about being able to exercise the right of defense from the moment of detention, filling the meaning of the intervention of the lawyer at this procedural moment, being able to advise from the outset, which represents a guarantee of the right of defense, until recently not recognized.