British nationals in detention or prison overseas

If a relative or friend has been detained or held in prison overseas, this is the support we can give.

If your relative or friend has asked us to, we will tell you as soon as we can, that they have been detained or held in prison. However, to protect their confidentiality, we will not provide any details of the detention or arrest, or tell you how to contact them, unless they have given us permission.

Prison conditions

We can provide general information about the country involved, prison conditions and the local legal system.

We can put you in touch with the prisoners’ welfare charity, Prisoners Abroad.

If the prison where your friend or relative is being detained agrees, we can pass on any money you want to send to buy prison ‘comforts’, use the phone and so on.

In many countries, mail sent or received by the prisoner will be opened and read by the authorities, and phone conversations may be monitored.

The procedure for criminal prosecution in Cyprus is similar to the procedure in the UK as the Cyprus legal system is broadly based on the English legal system.   There are two types of offences: major offences and minor offences.  Minor offences are dealt with in a local district court and the major cases are heard in the Assizes court in the main towns.

Arrests are normally backed up by an arrest warrant issued by a judge.  However, if a police officer has reasonable grounds to suspect that a person has committed a serious offence, that person may be arrested without a warrant.

A person taken into custody without a warrant must, within 24 hours, be charged with the offence; or released upon certain terms pending the investigation; or brought before a judge for a warrant of arrest.  The latter is the most common procedure.  If a warrant is issued, it will state that the person should be remanded in custody or released on bail immediately after his or her arrest.  If remanded, the remand order will be for a maximum of 8 days, although a judge may extend this period if he is satisfied that the police require more time to complete their investigation. Each remand period will not exceed 8 days, and it may be shorter.

A detained person is entitled to legal advice.  If the detainee cannot afford a lawyer, they should make a request when they first go to the court to be allocated a court-appointed lawyer.  When such an appointment is made, the lawyer is paid from public funds. The court may also appoint an interpreter for the defendant, depending on the circumstances of the case.
 
If you wish to appoint your own lawyer, and have the funds to pay for legal advice, you may do so. The British High Commission holds a list of lawyers whom you may wish to consult.

If found guilty, a fine or a sentence will be imposed by the court.

If fined, a prisoner will have to remain in custody until the fine is paid.  If insufficient funds are available in Cyprus, the British High Commission can help by contacting relatives or friends in the UK to tell them how to transfer funds.  The British High Commission cannot pay fines for prisoners from public funds.

All custodial sentences are spent in Nicosia central prison.  A member of the consular section at the British High Commission visits all British prisoners soon after their arrival.

You can download called In Prison Abroad (PDF, 184 KB), which contains more information on how we can help British Nationals who have been arrested or detained.