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Released Under Investigation (RUI) vs Pre-Charge Bail in the UK

Independently fact-checkedBy Recording Law Editorial Team10 min read

Independently fact-checked against primary sources (last audited September 28, 2026). · 16 primary sources cited on this page. How we verify our legal content

Released Under Investigation (RUI) vs Pre-Charge Bail in the UK

Released under investigation, usually shortened to RUI, means the police have let a suspect go without any bail conditions while their investigation continues; it is different from pre-charge, or police, bail, which requires the person to return to the police station, can come with conditions and is subject to statutory time limits.

RUI and Pre-Charge Bail: The Basic Difference

When someone is arrested and questioned but the police are not yet ready to charge them or release them with no further action, there are two different ways they can be let go while the investigation continues. Released under investigation, RUI, means release with no conditions attached at all. Pre-charge bail, sometimes called police bail, means release with a duty to return to the police station, and can include conditions the police consider necessary, such as reporting to a police station at set intervals, living at a particular address, or not contacting a named person. This page covers what happens after that decision point. For the earlier stage, the detention clock that runs from arrest up to a charging decision, see being arrested.

How Long Pre-Charge Bail Can Last

Pre-charge bail is governed by sections 47ZA to 47ZM of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, inserted into PACE by the Policing and Crime Act 2017. Section 47ZB sets what the Act calls the 'applicable bail period', the initial length of time bail can run before it needs to be extended. For most cases, that initial period is 3 months from the person's bail start date. For cases handled by the Financial Conduct Authority, HMRC, the National Crime Agency or the Serious Fraud Office, it is 6 months.

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These figures reflect a 2022 reform. The original version of this scheme, in force from 3 April 2017, set an initial period of 28 days in most cases (3 months in Serious Fraud Office cases), before the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 lengthened it; the current 3 and 6 month figures came into force on 28 October 2022.

Extending Bail Beyond the Initial Period

If an investigation is not finished within the initial period, the bail period can be extended in stages, each requiring a more senior authorisation than the last. Under section 47ZD, a police officer of the rank of inspector or above can extend the applicable bail period so that it ends 6 months after the bail start date. Under section 47ZDA, an officer of the rank of superintendent or above can then extend it to 9 months. Only if the Director of Public Prosecutions designates the case as exceptionally complex can an officer of the rank of commander or assistant chief constable or above extend it to 12 months, under section 47ZE; in FCA, HMRC, NCA and SFO cases, a senior official can extend the initial 6 months to 12 months under section 47ZDB. After that, section 47ZF lets a magistrates' court, on application from a constable, a Crown Prosecutor or one of those agencies, extend the period to 12 months (standard cases) or 18 months (designated and agency cases), or to 18 or 24 months where the investigation is unlikely to finish otherwise. Section 47ZG then allows further court extensions of 3 or 6 months at a time, with no fixed overall limit.

When Can Pre-Charge Bail Be Used

Before a person can be released on bail, section 50A of PACE (section 30A(1A) applies the same test to a constable granting bail away from the police station) sets the test a custody officer must apply: the officer must be satisfied that releasing the person on bail is necessary and proportionate in all the circumstances, having regard in particular to any conditions that would be imposed, and must have considered any representations made by the person before authorising the release. In practice, the factors that go into that judgement include securing the person's surrender to custody, preventing further offending, safeguarding victims and witnesses, safeguarding the suspect, and managing any risk to the public. The test was introduced in April 2017 by the Policing and Crime Act 2017, which also made release without bail the default unless the test was met. The government later said that presumption against bail had raised concerns that bail was not always used when appropriate, including to stop suspects interfering with victims and witnesses, and the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 removed it from 28 October 2022: the person must now be released on bail if the test is met and without bail if it is not, and the listed factors were added at the same time.

Does RUI Have a Time Limit?

Not in the way pre-charge bail does. The section 47ZB time limits, and the extension stages that follow it, only apply to pre-charge bail. There is no equivalent statutory bail style time limit on RUI itself. That is the main structural criticism of RUI: because it carries no conditions, it also carries none of the review points that come with formal bail, so an investigation can continue for a long time without the same statutory check-in. It is more accurate to say there is no statutory bail style time limit on RUI than to say RUI has no limit of any kind.

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Scotland: Investigative Liberation

Scotland uses a differently named and differently structured system. Section 16 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016, in the part of the Act headed 'investigative liberation', allows a constable of the rank of sergeant or above to impose any condition considered necessary and proportionate for the purpose of ensuring the proper conduct of the investigation, when releasing a person from custody. That power can be used for up to 28 days from the first occasion a condition was imposed. Unconditional release, without any conditions attached, remains available too, functioning in a broadly similar way to RUI in England and Wales. The conditions end automatically 28 days after they were first imposed, and cannot be reimposed in connection with the same offence after that; they end sooner if the police remove them, the person is arrested or charged, or a sheriff removes them. An inspector or above must keep them under review. The investigation itself can continue after the conditions end.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland operates its own version of PACE, the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989. Its specific pre-charge bail and RUI provisions were not verified for this page, so a reader in Northern Ireland should check directly with the PSNI or a solicitor for the current position rather than assume it mirrors England and Wales exactly.

Getting Help

This page explains the general framework; it is not a substitute for advice on an actual live investigation. A duty solicitor is available free at the police station, and criminal legal aid may cover advice and representation as a case progresses; see legal aid eligibility for how that works. For the wider picture of criminal law topics on this site, see the UK Criminal Law hub.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does released under investigation mean?

It means the police have let a suspect go without any bail conditions while the investigation continues. It is different from pre-charge bail, which requires the person to return to the police station and can come with conditions such as reporting requirements or where the person can live.

How long can police bail last in England and Wales?

The initial applicable bail period under section 47ZB of PACE is 3 months for most cases, or 6 months for cases handled by the FCA, HMRC, the National Crime Agency or the Serious Fraud Office. It can then be extended, to 6 months by an inspector or above and to 9 months by a superintendent or above, and after that by a magistrates' court, which can keep granting further extensions with no fixed overall limit.

Can pre-charge bail be extended beyond a year?

Yes. After the police extension stages, a magistrates' court can extend pre-charge bail under section 47ZF of PACE and then again, 3 or 6 months at a time, under section 47ZG. There is no fixed overall maximum.

Does released under investigation have a time limit?

There is no statutory bail style time limit that applies to RUI itself. The time limits under section 47ZB only govern pre-charge bail, not RUI, which is part of why RUI has been criticised for allowing an investigation to continue without a fixed statutory review point.

Is the Scottish system the same as RUI in England and Wales?

No, though it works in a broadly similar way. Scotland's equivalent is called investigative liberation, under section 16 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016. A sergeant or above can impose conditions for up to 28 days, and unconditional release is also available.

Updates

Independently fact-checked against the cited primary sources

Sources and References

  1. PACE 1984, section 47ZB (applicable bail period, initial limit)(legislation.gov.uk).gov
  2. PACE 1984, section 47ZA (insertion of the pre-charge bail scheme)(legislation.gov.uk).gov
  3. PACE 1984, section 47ZD (extension to 6 months by an inspector or above)(legislation.gov.uk).gov
  4. PACE 1984, section 47ZE (extension to 12 months by a commander or ACC or above in DPP-designated exceptionally complex cases)(legislation.gov.uk).gov
  5. PACE 1984, section 47ZF (extension by a magistrates' court to 12, 18 or 24 months)(legislation.gov.uk).gov
  6. PACE 1984, section 30A (the same necessary and proportionate test for a constable granting bail away from a police station)(legislation.gov.uk).gov
  7. Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016, section 16 (release on conditions; Part 1 Chapter 2, investigative liberation)(legislation.gov.uk).gov
  8. PACE 1984, section 50A (pre-conditions for bail: the custody officer test)(legislation.gov.uk).gov
  9. PACE 1984, section 47ZDA (extension to 9 months by a superintendent or above)(legislation.gov.uk).gov
  10. PACE 1984, section 47ZDB (extension to 12 months in FCA, HMRC, NCA and SFO cases)(legislation.gov.uk).gov
  11. PACE 1984, section 47ZG (further magistrates' court extensions of 3 or 6 months)(legislation.gov.uk).gov
  12. PACE 1984, section 47ZB as in force from 3 April 2017 (28 days; 3 months in SFO cases)(legislation.gov.uk).gov
  13. Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016, section 17 (conditions end after 28 days)(legislation.gov.uk).gov
  14. Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016, section 18 (review and removal of conditions)(legislation.gov.uk).gov
  15. PACE 1984, section 37(2) and (2A) (released on bail if the pre-conditions are met, without bail if not)(legislation.gov.uk).gov
  16. Home Office, Police powers: pre-charge bail, government response (ending the presumption against pre-charge bail)(gov.uk).gov
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