Police stations

On this page:

Advice at the police station
Information for duty solicitors
CDS Direct
For more information

Advice at the police station

Any person detained at the police station is entitled under the General Criminal Contract to free and independent legal advice and assistance.

In certain circumstances that advice can only be provided by telephone.

When legal advice is requested two options are available:

the duty solicitor
the client’s own solicitor.

The LSC pays for advice given to a client by a duty solicitor. We will pay for advice from a client’s own solicitor only if they hold a General Criminal Contract.

Information for duty solicitors

The Duty Solicitor Manual is under Documents. Providers should speak to their LSC regional office for rota details.

From 14 Jan 08 all requests for publicly funded representation at police stations must be routed via the Defence Solicitor Call Centre (DSCC).

Police station representatives can advise clients in certain circumstances. See Documents for information sheets for:

police station representatives (probationary and accredited)
supervising solicitors.

CDS Direct

CDS Direct is our scheme to provide telephone advice to clients detained at a police station.

For more information

See the Legislation pages for Police Station Register Arrangements.

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Last updated: 11 January 2008