# Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016, Section 20: Information to be given in particular cases

Extent: S

(1) Subsection (2) applies when—
(a) a person is in police custody having been arrested under a warrant in respect of an offence listed in subsection (3)(b), or
(b) a person—
(i) is in police custody having been arrested without a warrant, and
(ii) since being arrested, the person has been charged by a constable with an offence listed in subsection (3)(b).
(2) The person must be informed as soon as reasonably practicable—
(a) that the person's case at, or for the purposes of, any relevant hearing ... in the course of the proceedings may be conducted only by a lawyer,
(b) that it is, therefore, in the person's interests to get the professional assistance of a solicitor, and
(c) that if the person does not engage a solicitor for the purposes of the conduct of the person's case at or for the purposes of the hearing, the court will do so.
(3) For the purposes of subsections (1) and (2)—
(a) “relevant hearing” is to be construed in accordance with section 288C(1A) or (as the case may be) 288DC(4) of the 1995 Act,
(b) the list is—
(i) an offence to which section 288C of the 1995 Act applies (certain sexual offending),
(ii) an offence to which section 288DC of the 1995 Act applies (domestic abuse cases).

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2016/1/section/20 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/criminal-justice-scotland-act-2016/section-20
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.