When Can a Lawyer Meet a Suspect After Criminal Detention in China? Key Stages from Detention to Review and Approval of Arrest

Summary: When a family member is placed under criminal detention in China, several questions usually arise immediately: When can a lawyer become involved? Must the lawyer wait 48 hours before meeting the detained person? And what does the commonly cited “37-day period” actually mean? This article explains the principal procedural stages following criminal detention in ordinary criminal cases investigated by public security organs, including the appointment of defense counsel, lawyer-client meetings, requests for approval of arrest, and the main procedures that may follow.

After criminal detention, family members often hear references to “24 hours,” “48 hours,” and “37 days.” These figures refer to different procedural rules and should not be treated as interchangeable.

The Short Answer

This article focuses on ordinary criminal cases in which a suspect is placed under criminal detention by a public security organ and held in a detention center. Cases directly investigated by a people’s procuratorate, cases investigated by state security organs, juvenile cases, and other proceedings subject to special procedural rules are outside its scope.

1. What Should the Family Confirm After Criminal Detention?

When a family learns that someone has been taken into custody, the first task is usually not to speculate about the possible sentence. It is to establish the basic procedural facts.

At a minimum, the family should try to confirm:

• when criminal detention was formally imposed;
• which public security organ and case-handling unit are handling the case;
• the suspected offense currently identified by the authorities;
• the detention center where the person is being held;
• whether the family has received, or otherwise been informed of, the detention notice; and
• if no notice has yet been received, whether the method of notification and the reason for any delay can be verified.

Criminal detention is a compulsory measure under Chinese criminal procedure. It does not mean that arrest has already been approved, and it does not mean that the person has been found guilty.

Criminal detention, arrest, and a final determination of criminal guilt are three separate legal questions.

2. When Can a Lawyer Be Retained After Criminal Detention?

A criminal suspect has the right to appoint a defender from the date on which the suspect is first interrogated by an investigating authority or subjected to a compulsory measure. During the investigation stage, only a lawyer may act as the suspect’s defender.

If the suspect is in custody, the suspect’s guardian or close relatives may also appoint defense counsel on the suspect’s behalf.

Accordingly, there is no requirement to wait 24 hours, three days, or until arrest has been approved before retaining a lawyer after criminal detention.

It is important to distinguish the everyday concept of “family members” from the statutory category of close relatives under China’s Criminal Procedure Law. For purposes of the Criminal Procedure Law, close relatives include a spouse, parents, children, and siblings, as specifically defined by the Criminal Procedure Law.

Friends, romantic partners, cousins, other extended relatives, and persons with a close personal relationship do not automatically qualify as “close relatives” for the purpose of appointing defense counsel on behalf of a detained suspect.

A guardian or close relative may appoint a defense lawyer on behalf of a detained suspect, but this does not displace the suspect’s own right to choose who will act as defense counsel.

A 2025 Reply jointly issued by the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate further clarified this point. Where a legal aid institution has already assigned a lawyer and the suspect’s guardian or close relative subsequently appoints another defense lawyer, the privately appointed lawyer remains entitled to meet the detained suspect. If, after that meeting, the suspect chooses the privately appointed lawyer to act as defense counsel, the corresponding legal aid representation must be terminated in accordance with law.

After accepting an appointment, defense counsel must promptly notify the authority handling the case.

Where a criminal suspect has neither retained defense counsel nor been assigned a legal aid lawyer, the suspect may also be entitled to legal assistance from a duty lawyer. A duty lawyer provides statutory legal assistance, but should not be equated with retained defense counsel or a defense lawyer formally assigned through legal aid.

3. When Can Defense Counsel Meet a Detained Criminal Suspect?

3.1 There Is No General Rule Requiring a Suspect to Be Detained for a Certain Number of Days Before a Lawyer May Meet the Suspect

Defense counsel is legally entitled to meet and communicate with a criminal suspect who is in custody.

To request a meeting, the lawyer generally presents:

• the lawyer’s practicing certificate;
• documentation from the law firm; and
• a power of attorney or an official legal aid document.

After verifying the required documents, the detention center must arrange the meeting promptly. Under the applicable rules, the meeting must be arranged no later than 48 hours after a proper request.

The 48-hour rule therefore does not mean:

“A criminal suspect must first remain in detention for 48 hours before a lawyer can meet the suspect.”

Rather:

“Once defense counsel has properly requested a meeting and completed the required formalities, the detention center must arrange the meeting promptly. Forty-eight hours is the outer limit for arranging the meeting, not a statutory waiting period following detention.”

3.2 Lawyer-Client Meetings in Ordinary Cases Are Generally Not Subject to Prior Approval

During the investigation stage, prior permission from the investigating authority is required for lawyer-client meetings in cases involving:

• crimes endangering national security; and
• terrorist activities.

The category of “particularly serious bribery cases,” which appeared in the former law, was removed from this special permission regime when the Criminal Procedure Law was amended in 2018.

Accordingly, in an ordinary case investigated by a public security organ and not falling within the special permission regime:

“Defense counsel makes a lawful request to meet the detained suspect; counsel does not apply to the investigating authority for permission to conduct an ordinary lawyer-client meeting.”

The absence of a prior-approval requirement does not mean that no procedural formalities apply. Counsel must still provide the required documents and comply with the detention center’s lawful meeting procedures and scheduling arrangements.

Where an interpreter is needed for a lawyer-client meeting in a case investigated by a public security organ, the lawyer must apply to the case-handling department in accordance with the applicable procedural rules. The department then decides whether to permit the interpreter to participate.

4. What Can a Lawyer Normally Do at the First Meeting?

A lawyer’s role during the investigation stage is not limited to checking on the detained person’s welfare.

Under Chinese criminal procedure, defense counsel may, among other things:

• provide legal assistance to the criminal suspect;
• file petitions or complaints on the suspect’s behalf;
• apply for a change of compulsory measure;
• obtain information from the investigating authority concerning the suspected offense and relevant circumstances of the case; and
• submit legal opinions.

During a meeting, counsel may learn about relevant circumstances of the case and provide legal advice. Lawyer-client meetings with a detained criminal suspect are not subject to monitoring. The applicable procedural rules further provide that public security organs may neither monitor the meeting nor have officers present during it.

At an initial meeting, counsel will often seek to understand matters such as:

• the suspect’s physical and mental condition;
• the circumstances in which the suspect was brought in, detained, and admitted to the detention center;
• the suspected offense and the suspect’s own account of the relevant events;
• how many interrogations have taken place and the general circumstances of those interrogations;
• whether the suspect understands the applicable procedural rights;
• whether there are indications of torture or other potentially unlawful evidence-gathering practices, including threats, inducement, deception, excessively prolonged interrogation, or abnormal restrictions on rest; and
• whether there is a factual and legal basis for seeking a less restrictive compulsory measure.

An important distinction must be maintained:

The discovery of an irregularity during interrogation does not automatically mean that the resulting evidence is legally excludable.

Whether evidence was obtained unlawfully, and whether the statutory standard for exclusion is met, depends on the specific conduct involved, the type of evidence, the seriousness of the violation, and the available supporting material.

These are matters that counsel may examine in light of the circumstances of an individual case. They are not a statutory checklist that every lawyer must mechanically complete during every first meeting.

Meeting the Suspect Is Not the Same as Reviewing the Case File

This distinction is often misunderstood by families.

During the investigation stage, defense counsel may meet the criminal suspect and may obtain certain information about the suspected offense and relevant case circumstances from the investigating authority.

However, two later procedural rights arise at different stages:

• from the date on which the people’s procuratorate begins its examination for prosecution, defense counsel may inspect, extract, and copy the case-file materials; and
• from the date on which the case is transferred for examination for prosecution, defense counsel may verify relevant evidence with the criminal suspect or defendant during meetings.

Accordingly:

“The fact that a lawyer can meet the suspect and obtain certain case information during the investigation stage does not mean that counsel already has access to the complete case file or may at that stage systematically verify the evidence with the suspect by reference to the file.”

5. What Are the Three Different “24-Hour” Rules After Criminal Detention?

Chinese criminal procedure contains several 24-hour requirements following criminal detention. They address different procedural obligations.

First: Transfer to a Detention Center — No Later Than 24 Hours

After executing criminal detention, the public security organ must immediately transfer the detained person to a detention center, and in any event no later than 24 hours after detention.

The phrase “no later than 24 hours” should not be understood as granting the authorities an unrestricted right to keep a detained person elsewhere for the full 24-hour period without justification.

Second: The Family Must Generally Be Notified Within 24 Hours

As a general rule, the family must be notified within 24 hours after detention.

The statutory exceptions are where notification is impossible, or—in cases involving crimes endangering national security or terrorist activities—where notification may impede the investigation.

This point is important:

“In an ordinary criminal case, the authorities cannot dispense with family notification merely because they consider notification inconvenient or potentially disruptive to the investigation.”

The “impeding the investigation” exception is specifically tied to cases involving crimes endangering national security or terrorist activities.

Nor do the statutory exceptions authorize indefinite non-notification. Once the circumstance preventing notification or creating the investigative concern has ceased to exist, the family must be notified immediately.

At the same time, the requirement to perform the notification obligation within 24 hours does not necessarily mean:

“The family must physically receive a written Detention Notice within 24 hours after detention.”

Whether the notification procedure was properly followed requires examination of the formal time of detention, when and how the public security organ performed the notification obligation, when the family actually received the information, and whether any statutory exception applied.

Third: The Public Security Organ Must Interrogate the Detained Person Within 24 Hours

The public security organ must interrogate a detained person within 24 hours after detention. If it determines that the person should not have been detained, the person must be released immediately.

The three 24-hour rules therefore concern different matters:

transfer to the detention center, family notification, and interrogation.

They are not the same procedural deadline.

6. What Can Happen After Criminal Detention?

Criminal detention does not mean that every case will necessarily proceed to a request for approval of arrest.

Depending on the circumstances and the investigation, possible paths include:

• where arrest is considered necessary, the public security organ may request the people’s procuratorate to approve arrest within the statutory period;
• where criminal proceedings should continue but arrest is unnecessary, the case may proceed toward examination for prosecution, including after the suspect is placed under qubao houshen (取保候审), a Chinese non-custodial compulsory measure commonly translated as release on bail or under a guarantor, or under residential surveillance, another compulsory measure under Chinese criminal procedure;
• where the detention period expires but the investigation remains ongoing, the compulsory measure may be changed to qubao houshen or residential surveillance; or
• where the statutory conditions require release, the suspect must be released.

It is therefore an oversimplification to say:

“Once a person is criminally detained, the next step is simply to wait for the arrest decision.”

If the Public Security Organ Considers Arrest Necessary, What Are the Time Limits?

As a general rule, where the public security organ considers arrest necessary, it must submit the case to the people’s procuratorate for review and approval within three days after detention.

In special circumstances, this period may be extended by one to four days.

For certain major suspects falling within the statutory categories of cross-locality offending, repeated offending, or group offending, the period for requesting approval of arrest may be extended to as long as 30 days. The applicable procedural rules further define the scope of each of these categories.

Where the criminal suspect is already in detention, the people’s procuratorate must decide whether to approve or disapprove arrest within seven days after receiving the public security organ’s written request for approval of arrest.

Why Is It Inaccurate to Say That “Criminal Detention Lasts Up to 37 Days” in Every Case?

The commonly cited “37 days” comes from the following possible combination:

up to 30 days for the public security organ to request approval of arrest + 7 days for the people’s procuratorate to decide whether arrest should be approved.

The 30-day period does not apply to every criminal case. It is available only under the statutory circumstances described above.

Moreover, “extended to 30 days” means:

“the total period available for the public security organ to submit the request for approval of arrest may reach 30 days,”

not:

“an initial seven-day period plus an additional 30 days.”

Accordingly:

“The ‘37-day period’ is best understood as the maximum combination of statutory periods that may arise in specified circumstances between criminal detention and the procuratorate’s decision on approval of arrest. It is not a uniform detention period applicable to every case.”

Nor should the 37 days be mechanically calculated from the moment a person was first “taken away.” In an actual case, the calculation should be checked against the formal time of criminal detention, the date on which approval of arrest was requested, the relevant procedural documents, and the statutory rules governing computation of periods.

7. What Happens During Review and Approval of Arrest?

Once the public security organ requests approval of arrest, the people’s procuratorate reviews whether the criminal suspect satisfies the statutory conditions for arrest.

Arrest does not follow automatically merely because a person is suspected of committing a crime.

As a general matter, the review examines such questions as:

• whether the evidence establishes that a crime has been committed;
• whether the suspect may face a sentence of imprisonment or a more severe punishment; and
• whether the non-custodial measure of qubao houshen would be insufficient to prevent the forms of social danger specified by law.

The law separately provides for other circumstances in which arrest is mandatory or may be imposed.

Defense Counsel Does Not Have to Remain Passive During the Arrest-Approval Review

When the people’s procuratorate reviews a request for approval of arrest, it must hear the views of defense counsel if counsel requests to present them.

A criminal suspect’s request to make a statement directly to the procurator also constitutes one of the circumstances in which the procuratorate is required to interrogate the suspect.

At this stage, defense counsel may submit legal opinions addressing matters such as:

• whether the available evidence satisfies the applicable evidentiary requirements;
• the sentence the suspect is likely to face;
• whether the statutory forms of social danger are genuinely present;
• whether any other statutory ground for arrest exists; and
• whether a non-custodial compulsory measure, such as qubao houshen, is realistically available.

A defense submission at the arrest-approval stage should address the statutory conditions for arrest and the facts of the particular case, rather than merely asserting a conclusory request that arrest not be approved.

What Do Approval and Disapproval of Arrest Mean?

After review, the people’s procuratorate must decide whether to approve or disapprove arrest.

Approval of arrest is still a decision concerning a compulsory measure. It is not a determination of guilt.

A decision not to approve arrest means, first, that the procuratorate has not approved placing the criminal suspect under the compulsory measure of arrest. The consequences that follow, however, depend on the reason for disapproval.

Where the evidence has not yet reached the standard required for arrest, or continued custody is otherwise unnecessary, the public security organ may release the suspect or change the compulsory measure while continuing the investigation.

Different consequences may follow where the procuratorate disapproves arrest because there is no factual basis establishing that a crime occurred, or because one of the statutory circumstances requiring that criminal responsibility not be pursued applies. In such circumstances, the procuratorate may be required to notify the public security organ to dismiss the case.

Where a crime has occurred and criminal liability must still be investigated, but the offense was not committed by the suspect in question, or where a participant in a joint offense does not bear criminal responsibility, the investigation against the relevant suspect may instead be terminated in accordance with law.

Accordingly:

“The words ‘arrest not approved’ do not, by themselves, establish either that the investigation will continue or that the case is over. The legal consequences depend on the specific basis for the decision.”

If the public security organ considers the procuratorate’s decision not to approve arrest to be erroneous, it may seek reconsideration and, if necessary, further review through the statutory procedure.

However, seeking reconsideration does not suspend the public security organ’s obligation to release the detained suspect immediately or lawfully change the compulsory measure.

New 24-Hour Requirements Arise After Arrest Is Executed

Once an approved arrest is executed, additional procedural requirements arise that are separate from the three 24-hour rules applicable at the criminal-detention stage.

Unless notification is impossible, the family must be notified within 24 hours after arrest. A person whose arrest has been approved by the people’s procuratorate must also be interrogated by the public security organ within 24 hours after arrest.

The 24-hour requirements following arrest are therefore separate from the earlier 24-hour requirements concerning criminal detention.

8. After Arrest Has Been Approved, Can the Compulsory Measure Still Be Changed or the Necessity of Continued Custody Reviewed?

Yes. These are distinct procedural mechanisms.

One point should first be made clear:

“The right to apply for a change of compulsory measure does not arise only after arrest has been approved.”

Defense counsel may apply for a change of compulsory measure during the investigation stage. The discussion below focuses specifically on the options available once a criminal suspect has been arrested and the question becomes whether continued custody remains necessary.

8.1 Applying for a Change of Compulsory Measure

A criminal suspect or defendant, the person’s legal representative or close relatives, and defense counsel may apply for a change of compulsory measure.

A people’s court, people’s procuratorate, or public security organ that receives such an application must make a decision within three days. If the application is denied, the applicant must be informed and the reasons must be given.

Whether there is a realistic basis for changing the compulsory measure depends on the circumstances of the particular case, including the facts, evidentiary status, likely sentence, degree of social danger, physical condition of the suspect, and the progress of the investigation and proceedings.

8.2 Applying to the People’s Procuratorate for Review of the Necessity of Continued Custody

A review of the necessity of continued custody (羁押必要性审查) concerns whether a criminal suspect or defendant who has already been arrested still needs to remain in custody.

Under the 2023 Regulation on the Review and Assessment of the Necessity of Detention by People’s Procuratorates and Public Security Organs, an application for such a review may be made to the people’s procuratorate by the criminal suspect or defendant, the person’s legal representative or close relatives, defense counsel, or a duty lawyer.

The rules distinguish between review and assessment:

• the people’s procuratorate conducts the review of continued custody; and
• during the investigation stage, the public security organ may assess whether continued custody remains necessary.

During the investigation stage, if the people’s procuratorate concludes that continued custody is unnecessary, it issues a recommendation to the public security organ to release the suspect or change the compulsory measure.

During examination for prosecution, the people’s procuratorate may itself decide to release the suspect or change the compulsory measure where continued custody is unnecessary.

During the investigation stage, where the public security organ receives an application to change a custodial compulsory measure, it must also assess whether continued custody remains necessary in accordance with the applicable rules.

Different time limits apply to the different procedures.

During the investigation stage, where the people’s procuratorate receives an application or recommendation for a review of the necessity of continued custody, it must decide within 10 days whether to recommend release or a change of compulsory measure to the public security organ.

Where the review requires a medical assessment, expert report, technical examination of evidence, or a hearing, the relevant period is excluded from the statutory time limit for the review.

By contrast, where the people’s procuratorate at the examination-for-prosecution stage, or the public security organ during the investigation stage, receives an application to change a compulsory measure, the applicable decision period is three days.

Accordingly:

“An application to change a compulsory measure, a procuratorial review of the necessity of continued custody, and a public-security assessment of continued custody are related mechanisms, but they are not the same procedure. The powers and time limits applicable to different authorities and different stages of the proceedings should not be conflated.”

9. What Can the Family Do, and What Should the Family Avoid Doing?

After a criminal case begins, the family should first focus on confirming the procedural facts and preserving relevant materials in their original form.

Practical steps may include:

1. keeping the Detention Notice and other documents relating to the criminal procedure;

2. recording key times, including when the person was taken away, formally detained, and when the family was notified;

3. confirming the authority handling the case and the place of detention;

4. if counsel is to be retained, preparing documents establishing the relevant family relationship and other materials required for the appointment;

5. preserving original chat records, transaction records, contracts, documents, electronic devices, and other materials that may be relevant to the case; and

6. setting out the facts known to the family in chronological order while clearly distinguishing matters personally known from information learned from others.

There are also important limits.

Family members should not delete, alter, fabricate, conceal, or transfer evidence that may be relevant to the case. They should not contact other persons to coordinate accounts, engage in collusion, threaten witnesses, or otherwise interfere with testimony or evidence.

A further distinction is important:

“Preserving materials and voluntarily submitting those materials to the case-handling authority are not necessarily the same question.”

For materials that have not been lawfully requested by the authorities, whether they should be voluntarily submitted, when they should be submitted, and what they are intended to prove may require case-specific legal assessment.

However, where a judicial or law-enforcement authority lawfully obtains, seizes, or requires the production of materials, those materials must not be concealed, transferred, destroyed, or fabricated, and the lawful process must be complied with.

Under no circumstances should anyone attempt to affect the evidence by deleting records, moving devices to conceal them, coordinating accounts, colluding with others, threatening witnesses, or interfering with testimony.

For case-related materials, the more useful questions are whether the material is authentic and complete, what it proves, how it relates to an issue in the case, and whether and when it should lawfully be submitted.

Families should also be cautious of claims that paying money to “use connections” can secure a person’s release. Whether a compulsory measure should continue depends on the facts, the evidence, and the applicable statutory conditions.

10. Frequently Asked Questions

1. Must a person wait 24 hours after criminal detention before retaining a lawyer?

No.

A lawyer may be retained as soon as the suspect is first interrogated by an investigating authority or subjected to a compulsory measure. Criminal detention is itself a compulsory measure.

2. Must a lawyer wait until the suspect has been detained for 48 hours before meeting the suspect?

No.

The 48-hour period concerns the detention center’s deadline for arranging a properly requested lawyer-client meeting. It is not a waiting period that begins when the suspect is detained.

3. Does a lawyer need approval from the public security organ to meet a suspect in an ordinary criminal case?

Generally, no.

In an ordinary case investigated by a public security organ and not subject to the special meeting-permission regime, prior permission from the investigating authority is generally not required.

During the investigation stage, the special permission regime applies to cases involving crimes endangering national security and terrorist activities. The lawyer must nevertheless provide the required documentation and comply with the detention center’s lawful meeting procedures.

4. Can a family member go directly to the detention center and meet the detained person?

Close relatives do not have the same statutory meeting mechanism as defense counsel.

Under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Detention Centers, a detainee may meet with close relatives with the consent of the case-handling authority and approval of the public security organ.

A family visit is therefore legally distinct from a defense lawyer’s meeting with a detained suspect.

5. Does every criminal detention case have a 37-day period?

No.

The “37-day period” is not a uniform detention period applicable to every criminal case. It is a possible combination arising in specified cases from a maximum 30-day period for the public security organ to request approval of arrest plus the procuratorate’s 7-day arrest-review period.

The period should not be mechanically calculated from the date or time when a person was first taken away. The formal detention time, request-for-arrest date, procedural documents, and statutory rules for calculating periods should be checked in the individual case.

6. If the procuratorate does not approve arrest, is the case over?

Not necessarily.

The consequences depend on the reason for the decision.

Where the evidence does not satisfy the requirements for arrest or continued custody is unnecessary, the suspect may be released or subjected to another compulsory measure while the investigation continues.

Where arrest is disapproved because there is no factual basis establishing that a crime occurred, or because a statutory ground requiring that criminal responsibility not be pursued applies, the public security organ may instead be required to dismiss the case. Other circumstances may require termination of the investigation against the particular suspect.

The specific basis for the decision not to approve arrest is therefore critical.

7. Can the lawyer see the entire case file at the first meeting?

Usually not.

Counsel may meet the suspect during the investigation stage and obtain certain case information from the investigating authority. The statutory right to review the case file and the right to verify relevant evidence with the suspect arise at later procedural stages governed by separate rules.

Meeting the suspect and reviewing the case file are distinct defense rights exercised at different stages of the proceedings.

8. If more than 24 hours have passed and the family has not received a written Detention Notice, is the procedure necessarily unlawful?

No.

The absence of a written Detention Notice in the family’s hands after 24 hours is not, by itself, sufficient to establish that the notification procedure was unlawful.

It is necessary to verify:

• the actual time when criminal detention was imposed;
• whether the public security organ performed its notification obligation;
• when the notification was made;
• how notification was made; and
• whether a statutory exception, such as impossibility of notification, applied.

For cases involving crimes endangering national security or terrorist activities, the law also recognizes a special exception where notification may impede the investigation. Once the relevant circumstance ceases to exist, however, the family must be notified immediately.