Released Under Investigation – But What Next?

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.