How long can the police hold you in Peru?

The text in force: 48 hours

The rule is letter f of numeral 24 of article 2 of the Constitution, as it stands after Ley 30558, published on 9 May 2017. It says three things:

1. Only two grounds for detention: a written, reasoned order from a judge, or arrest by the police en flagrante delito (caught in the act).
2. A substantive limit: detention «no durará más del tiempo estrictamente necesario para la realización de las investigaciones».
3. A ceiling: the detainee «debe ser puesto a disposición del juzgado correspondiente, dentro del plazo máximo de cuarenta y ocho horas o en el término de la distancia».

The término de la distancia, in simple terms, is the travel time allowed when the place of arrest is far from the court. It is a geographic adjustment, not an open licence.

The exception: 15 days

The same letter adds that those limits do not apply to terrorism, espionage, illicit drug trafficking, or crimes committed by criminal organisations. There the police may hold suspects in preventive detention «por un término no mayor de quince días naturales», reporting to the Ministerio Público and to the judge, who may take over before the period ends.

Why so many people still say 24 hours

Because for more than twenty years it was 24, and because the first document that comes up when you search for the Constitution, Congress’s «Texto actualizado», still prints «veinticuatro horas». We opened it and checked: on this point it is stale. The governing text is Ley 30558. And yes, there is a proposal to move the limit to 72 hours; until it is published as a constitutional reform, it is not law.

A guarantee almost nobody cites

Letter g of the same numeral obliges the authority, «bajo responsabilidad», to state «sin dilación y por escrito» the place where the detained person is. If a relative asks where you are, the answer is not optional.

Foreigners: administrative retention of 12 to 24 hours

Since 14 November 2023, Decreto Legislativo 1582 (Fifteenth Final Complementary Provision) created something distinct from criminal detention: administrative retention (retención administrativa) by the police to determine a foreigner’s migratory status.

Infractions d) and f), in the text of DL 1350, are entering the country without immigration control despite an entry ban, and carrying out activities against public order, internal order or national security. Ley 32192 (article 3) added letter j): failing to identify yourself to the competent authority. As a result, a foreigner who cannot or will not identify themselves in the street can move from an identity check to a retention of up to 24 hours with an expulsion hearing.

This is contested. The Constitution allows detention only on a court order or in flagrancy. A police retention of up to 24 hours for an administrative infraction, with no judge ordering it, has been publicly questioned: Amnesty International Peru, in a statement dated November 16, 2023, called the procedure one that “violates due process, since the timeframe is inadequate to exercise the right of defense” (our translation), and called for repealing the provisions affecting international refugee protection. As far as we know, no court ruling has struck it down. We present the norm as it stands and the criticism as criticism, with its source: the rule is in force and the police apply it.

What to do

Comply, record, complain afterwards. Do not resist. Ask under which rule you are being held, ask that someone be notified, count the hours. If the limit passes, the immediate remedy is habeas corpus, and the officer’s conduct goes through the channels in the steps. Your concrete rights while detained, including a lawyer and silence, are in Your rights when detained.

Is your detention connected to an immigration proceeding?

If you’re also facing a possible mandatory departure or expulsion, see your specific rights in deportation and expulsion in Peru.