A suspect is a person against whom, on the basis of facts and circumstances, a reasonable suspicion of guilt of a criminal offence has arisen. The moment someone acquires that status matters: from then on a set of statutory rights applies, and from then on the rules on questioning, arrest and coercive measures bind the investigating authorities.
Statutory basis
Article 27 of the Code of Criminal Procedure defines the suspect. Article 27c obliges the police to inform the suspect of the offence and of his rights, and articles 28 and following give the right to a lawyer, both before questioning and during it, implementing Directive 2013/48/EU. The Code was replaced by a new Code adopted in February 2026 and published the following month; it is expected to enter into force on 1 April 2029, so the current numbering applies until then.
How it works in practice
Suspicion must rest on concrete facts, not on a hunch, a nationality or a location. Being asked to come to the police station for a conversation does not by itself make someone a suspect, but the character of the questions usually does. Anyone who is questioned as a suspect is entitled to consult a lawyer beforehand and to have a lawyer present during the interview; for detained suspects this is arranged automatically through the duty lawyer scheme.
Where it goes wrong
The commonest mistake is talking. People explain themselves to the police in the belief that clearing things up will end the matter, and produce a statement that later cannot be walked back. A second problem is the informal conversation: witnesses who become suspects during a conversation must be cautioned at that moment, and statements taken after that point without a caution can be excluded. Third, company directors questioned in a regulatory context often do not realise that the interview has become criminal rather than administrative.
Related terms
Right to silence and caution, police custody and pre-trial detention.
Have you been invited for questioning or arrested? Our criminal lawyers advise before the interview, not afterwards.
