Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000

Before a police officer starts to question a relevant person for an indictable offence, the police officer must inform the person that the person may—

telephone or speak to a friend or relative to inform the friend or relative of the person’s whereabouts and ask the friend or relative to be present during questioning; and

telephone or speak to a lawyer of the person’s choice and arrange, or attempt to arrange, for the lawyer to be present during the questioning.

The police officer must delay the questioning for a reasonable time to allow the person to telephone or speak to a person mentioned in subsection (1).

If the person arranges for someone to be present, the police officer must delay the questioning for a reasonable time to allow the other person to arrive.

What is a reasonable time to delay questioning to allow a friend, relative or lawyer to arrive at the place of questioning will depend on the particular circumstances, including, for example—

how far the person has to travel to the place; and

when the person indicated the person would arrive at the place.

What is a reasonable time to delay questioning to allow the relevant person to speak to a friend, relative or lawyer will depend on the particular circumstances, including, for example, the number and complexity of the matters under investigation.

Unless special circumstances exist, a delay of more than 2 hours may be unreasonable.