Detention / Custody
High-sensitivity custody lifecycle and safeguards
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
3 bundles · 3 layers · 6 findings · 12 questions
Legal basis Why and under what authority the person is held.
Authority and grounds
The order, the authority and the legal grounds for custody.
Custody order
The decision or order that authorises custody, with the issuing authority.
- Which authority ordered the custody, and on which legal ground?
- Which document or decision records the order?
Time limits
The maximum lawful duration and the dates of required judicial review.
- What is the maximum lawful duration of this custody?
- When must the custody next be reviewed by a judge?
Custody episode Where and when the person is held.
Place and movements
The facility and any transfers during custody.
Place of custody
The facility where the person is held and the dates of admission and transfer.
- In which facility is the person held, and since when?
- Has the person been transferred, and was the transfer recorded?
Release
The end of custody with its date and ground.
- When and on what ground did custody end?
- Was the person released, transferred to another authority or deceased?
Safeguards The rights owed to the person in custody.
Rights and oversight
Notification, legal counsel, health care and independent oversight.
Rights exercised
Whether the person was informed of rights and could reach counsel and family.
- Was the person informed of the reasons and their rights, and when?
- Did the person have access to a lawyer and was a relative or consulate notified?
Welfare checks
Medical examinations, incidents and complaints during custody.
- Was a medical examination offered on admission?
- Were incidents or complaints recorded, and were they investigated independently?
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- World Models
- Category
- Society, people and institutions
- Entry kind
- standalone-mm
- Navigation path
- NAV.SOC.POL.CUS
- Domain
- SOC.POL.CUS
- Industry
- Cross-industry
- Tags
- detentioncustodysoc.pol.cus
What it is Filled
Detention or custody is a period during which a person is deprived of liberty by a public authority, such as police custody, pre-trial detention, imprisonment after sentence or immigration detention. It covers the legal basis, the place, the safeguards owed to the person and the end of custody. Restrictions that do not deprive a person of liberty, and the court case or sentence itself, are outside the class.
Why it exists Filled
High-sensitivity custody lifecycle and safeguards
Distinguishing features Filled
- It is a deprivation of liberty under public authority, unlike restrictions such as curfews or reporting duties.
- It is the custody episode itself; the court case, judgment and sentence have their own models.
- Safeguards and time limits are part of the record because custody is lawful only while they are met.
- It is a high-sensitivity record about a person in a vulnerable position.
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Order, extend or end custody.
- Disclose the whereabouts of a detained person to anyone not entitled by law.
- Alter or delete records of incidents, complaints or medical examinations.
- Use custody records for profiling unrelated to the lawful purpose.
- Give guidance that helps evade lawful custody or harm people in custody.
Only with a human decision
- Any decision to detain, extend detention or release.
- Use of force, segregation or restraint.
- Disclosure of custody records to third parties.
May
- Record admission, transfer and release events with their legal basis.
- Remind officials of upcoming time limits and required reviews.
- Show a person in custody or their counsel the record that concerns them, where the law allows.
- Produce aggregate statistics on custody with disclosure control.
Moral aspects Filled
- Deprivation of liberty is among the most serious interferences with human rights and needs strict legal limits.
- Incomplete records hide abuse and enforced disappearance.
- Custody records can stigmatise people long after release.
Who is affected
- Detained persons
- Families and legal counsel
- Custody staff and authorities
- Independent monitoring bodies
Owners Filled
Steward
The custodial authority responsible for the facility, under judicial and independent oversight.
Master systems
- Custody record system
- Prison management system
- Court case management system
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- WM-POL-023
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- A custody episode is identified by the custody or booking reference issued by the custodial authority.
- The person is identified by the authority's person reference, linked to national identity where lawful.
- Orders are referenced by the case or decision number of the issuing authority.
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
The subject is an institutional or informational record, not a physical object with measurable properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- A custody record names a person, a custodial authority, a legal basis, a place and an admission time.
- Often confused with the sentence, the court case or a non-custodial restriction.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- Admission, transfer and release can be recorded as events with their legal basis.
- Time limits and review dates can be computed and tracked.
- Safeguard steps can be checked for completeness.
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Unlawful or arbitrary detention beyond legal limits.
- Ill-treatment that goes unrecorded.
- Disclosure of a detained person's location to people who may harm them.
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- Court and prosecution case systems for orders and reviews.
- Consular notification under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
- Reporting to independent monitoring bodies under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture.
Context of use required Filled
- Governed by constitutional law, criminal and immigration procedure, and international human rights law.
- Used by police, prison, immigration and judicial authorities and by oversight bodies.
Sources Filled
- United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules), United Nations
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 9, United Nations
- Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, United Nations
Open questions
- Planned model: boundary questions, research and every section remain to be written.
Machine files
Provenance
planned (registry candidate) · todo
Built from: models/runtime-index.json, ver-cy/world-models/card-supplements/wm-pol-024-detention-custody.json
Planned entry, hidden from the catalogue until researched.