In certain situations, a person accused of having committed a criminal offence may be kept detained on remand (in Slovak väzba). However, the detention on remand has to be carried out lawfully and respecting human rights.
Detention on remand means that you are kept detained while the police are investigating the crime and may last during the trial period. Whether to keep you detained must be decided by a judge (a pre-trial judge or a president of the court's senate). You may also be detained when your trial has already begun. Then the decision to keep you detained is made by the same court that is deciding your case. In Slovakia, you are kept detained at the prison for detention on remand (in Slovak ústav na výkon väzby).
You can be held detained on remand if the pre-trial judge or the court believes that there is a good reason for this. The grounds for keeping you detained have to be clearly written in law. In Slovakia they are explained in the Code of Criminal Procedure.
During detention you are deprived of your liberty and may feel particularly helpless and vulnerable. Detention is considered to be the strictest form of pre-trial security measure. Therefore, the decision to detain someone should not be made frivolously. How can you know whether it was done on lawful grounds and following the right procedures?
About this Guide
This Guide will explain why and how you can be kept in detention on remand, the basic rights that you have when detained, where you will stay and how you must be treated, and what should happen about your release. It will also explain how you can complain about the issues related to your detention.