The police used to refer to it as "assisting us with our inquiries" but it has long been the case that being under investigation followed a formal process. Executing an arrest based on suspicion of an offence being committed was followed first by an interview under caution and then with a period on police bail.
This may have involved conditions but would inevitably leave the suspect with a firm date to return to the police station to find out the result of the investigation.
A recent change in the law has altered this dramatically. In order to reduce the amount of time suspects spend on bail, police were granted the legal provisions to "Release Under Investigation"(RUI). This means that the yoke of bail is not in operation, which can be positive.
However, the problem with this change has been that rather than bail a suspect with conditions a huge proportion of suspects are being RUI. Cases of all types can leave an innocent person in limbo for months with no result and no contact from the police to explain why there is a delay. This can cause significant damage. There are examples of university students being suspended and missing full academic years and applications for British citizenships all being delayed because of RUI.
The Criminal Litigation Department offers a comprehensive investigation package that provides a person who is RUI with the best chance of bringing the investigation to a conclusion at the earliest possible stage. This involves liaising and negotiating with the police and investigating officers, making written representations on the strengths of the evidence, providing defence evidence, data or statements to progress the defence case and attending the police stations for any re-interviews.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
