Police custody and searches in Luxembourg: your rights

Unlike French garde à vue, which can be extended to 48 hours and beyond in organised-crime cases, Luxembourg police custody is limited to 24 hours with no extension. This brevity has a practical consequence: everything moves fast. Statements made during those hours are recorded and weigh on what follows, including the investigating judge's decision on pre-trial detention.

Since the Act of 8 March 2017, the person held receives a written letter of rights. The right to a lawyer applies before the first interview; if the chosen lawyer cannot be reached, a duty lawyer is appointed from the Bar's lists. The right reflex is the same as in France: ask for your lawyer, confer, then decide together whether to speak or stay silent.

During the preliminary investigation, the police may only search your home with your written consent, except in flagrante delicto. You may refuse; the prosecutor must then apply to the investigating judge. During a judicial investigation, the search is ordered by the investigating judge and may not, on pain of nullity, begin before 6:30 or after 20:00, except in flagrante delicto or in cases provided for by law.

Seized items and documents are inventoried and sealed; you may request copies and apply to the chambre du conseil for their return. The seizure of a phone or computer raises specific issues (access codes, professional data covered by privilege) that should be discussed with your lawyer before any voluntary handover.

At the end of the 24 hours the State Prosecutor decides: release, direct citation before the court, or referral to the investigating judge. The judge hears you in the presence of your lawyer, charges you where appropriate and may issue a detention order. Pre-trial detention is served at the Luxembourg Prison in Schrassig.

An application for provisional release may be filed at any time with the chambre du conseil of the district court, with an appeal to the chambre du conseil of the Court of Appeal. For a foreign resident, the key is to demonstrate sufficient guarantees of appearance (home, job, family ties) so that an address outside the Grand-Duchy is not read as a flight risk.

Allegations against cross-border workers are often linked to their job in Luxembourg: breach of trust, forgery, serious traffic offences, drugs. The Luxembourg authorities may ask France, by letter rogatory or European Investigation Order, to search a home in Moselle or the seat of a French company. Conversely, a French judge may request measures in Luxembourg. Admitted to both Bars, I act on both sides and check the regularity of the measures transmitted from one country to the other. See the firm's cross-border practice and the guide to the European arrest warrant.