Reconstruct the complete timeline
Record the time of the stop, arrest, start of police custody, each notification of rights, the interpreter’s arrival, interviews, the end of custody and placement in immigration detention. A short delay may have different significance depending on the act concerned.
Memories should be checked against the official reports. A missing time, signature or recorded refusal may become important when placed in the exact sequence of events.
Rights, interpreting and material conditions
During police custody, the person must be informed of their rights in a language they understand and receive interpreting where needed. In immigration detention, the rights provided by CESEDA include access to a lawyer and doctor and the ability to contact a consulate and a person of their choice.
Concerns about dignity, food, medical care or unanswered requests should be described precisely: time, person contacted, response and practical consequence.
A defect does not automatically end detention
Article L. 743-12 CESEDA requires the judge to assess whether breach of a substantial formality, or one required on pain of nullity, substantially impaired the foreign national’s rights.
The argument must therefore identify both the rule breached and the concrete effect: inability to understand rights, delayed access to counsel, questioning without suitable interpretation, or fatigue or illness preventing effective exercise of a right.
Useful records and information
Relevant material may include police-custody reports, rights forms, interpreter requests, meal or monitoring sheets, medical certificates, the detention register and evidence of calls or requests made.
If the person cannot obtain the file, they should send counsel a factual, timed account. Relatives can retain messages and documents received without altering the original files.
The hearing before the judge
Counsel compares the file with the person’s account, raises properly evidenced defects and answers the prefecture’s application to extend detention. She separates procedural objections from arguments about whether detention remains necessary.
An order in another case may illustrate a legal approach, but it does not create automatic release. The timeline and impairment of rights must be shown in each case.
Discuss your situation
You can send the firm the essential facts, relevant dates and any known deadline.
Frequently asked questions
Does every procedural error lead to release?
No. The judge considers the nature of the breached requirement and whether the person’s rights were substantially impaired in the individual case.
What if the interpreter arrived late?
Record the times, language requested, steps taken before the interpreter arrived and what the person could not understand. The reports and interpreter request will need to be checked.
What can be done without a copy of the file?
Send counsel a detailed timeline immediately. She can compare that account with the documents disclosed for the hearing.