police in foreign countries

poisonated

My friend wants to know if you can be convicted of an offence in a foreign country that speaks a different language without being arrested. I would have thought that you would need to be brought into a police station and go in front of an interpretator.
Thanks

si_guru

Depends... is it a traffic offence?

poisonated

No he bought weed in Spain.

coylemj

At the last count there was over 160 different countries in the world, would you like us to answer that question for every one of them or would you care to name the country?

They speak 'different' languages in foreign countries - wow, never knew that!

poisonated

Hello sunshine. Read the above post please:D

poisonated

I also would have thought for a crime that small they wouldn't bring the case international. He is kind of worried about it though.

coylemj

You need to fill in a few gaps.....

1. Was he asked to sign anything by the police? I'm thinking here about a formal caution that would count as a conviction for a minor offence and for which a court appearance is waived if the accused pleads guilty by signing a police document.

2. What did you mean in the last post about it being taken international?

Sorry for the sarcastic reply but you're not being generous with the details.

poisonated

No worries. You're probably right. The person wasn't asked to sign anything. International meaning it happened in Spain. I would have thought the Spanish police would have to come to Ireland if they were to convict someone. He is living in Ireland.

coylemj

You still need to fill in the gaps, what happened in Spain, what happened when he came home?

amen

They could apply to the courts for an extradition warrent have the state transfer him to spain (unlikely based on his crime).

What happens when he next visits spain ?

poisonated

He doesn't speak Spanish so he was really confused. The policeman took his passport and looked at it for a coupld of minutes. He couldn't understand what the policeman was saying. This was in the past week so nothing really has happened yet.

Our man in Havana

Is your friend in Ireland or Spain right now?

coylemj

OP, I'm going to make a suggestion that I suggest you take up...

Will you FFS tell us all the details so that we don't have to keep asking questions. You talked about it going 'international' as if they had sent him or his local Garda station a letter saying he was now convicted of a drugs offence in Spain yet then you tell us that nothing has happened, how can we give you advice when getting the details from you is like drawing blood from a stone.

All of the details please, no names obviously.

poisonated

Sorry. I will try my best.

1)He hasn't gotten convicted of anything yet.

2)The policeman wanted to look at his passport. They couldn't understand each other because my friend only spoke English and he only spoke Spanish.

3)He is looking to know what the ramifications are in Ireland as neither him or I really understand how these things work.i.e how can you get convicted of something if you have not sat a trial and how can you sit a trial if you are not in the country. If he is somehow convicted will this be on his record in Ireland.

4)He returned to Ireland yesterday. Therefore, he hasn't heard anything yet.

Our man in Havana

1)He hasn't gotten convicted of anything yet.

Good.

2)The policeman wanted to look at his passport. They couldn't understand each other because my friend only spoke English and he only spoke Spanish.

The policeman should have got an interpreter for your friend.

3)He is looking to know what the ramifications are in Ireland as neither him or I really understand how these things work.i.e if how can you get convicted of something if you have not sat a trial and how can you sit a trial if you are not in the country.

There will be no issues here unless the Spanish police issue a EAW.

4)He returned to Ireland yesterday. Therefore, he hasn't heard anything yet.

I suggest he does not return to Spain anytime soon.

Was he given any paperwork upon his release from custody?

poisonated

Sorry. He wasn't arrested. The policeman spoke to him.

By the way, thanks for the replies.

thenightrider

I dont think anything is going to happen as he did not sign anything im sure if something was going to happen they would have goten an an interpreter or an other officer that can speak english.

ricero

**** THE POLICE IM COMING STRAIGHT FROM THE UNDERGROUND

poisonated

Police think they have the authority to kill a minority:D

shaunsweb

I think the moral of the story here is not to buy weed especially when you are in a foreign country. Local law enforcement don't really like it. And if you are in somewhere like Thailand, be prepared for a very long stay at their pleasure.

The point does raise an interesting question though. If he is convicted in abstentia, is there a mechanism whereby if someone (ie prospective employer) decides to do a security check; will it red flag that he has a conviction in a foreign country and perhaps even has a bench warrant outstanding in that jurisdiction.

More than likely though, the Spanish Officer let him off with a verbal warning as it probably wasn't worth the effort to arrest.

coylemj

poisonated wrote: »

Police think they have the authority to kill a minority:D

What's that supposed to mean?

You still haven't given us the circumstances of how he got involved with the Spanish cops, why did they talk to him in the first place, how much stuff had he on him, did they see him buying or selling or just smoking? Did they confiscate what they found or did they find anything? If they found stuff, roughly how much was there?

Was he brought to a police station, did the cop take down details of his passport in his notebook?

Do you not appreciate that nobody can answer your questions without ALL of the details.

poisonated

That was just in response to a previous post. He was seen smoking. He was seached and he says that he had about 3 grams. The policeman took down his passport details.

MagicSean

It's from the song "**** the police" isn't it. If they took down his details they may not be letting it go. Unfortunately unless someone knows something about Spanish Law there is not much help you can get here. If he were to be convicted in his absence it is possible his conviction will be brought to the attention of the Gardaí.

coylemj

poisonated wrote: »

That was just in response to a previous post. He was seen smoking. He was seached and he says that he had about 3 grams. The policeman took down his passport details.

I'd say his details were logged and he was given the equivalent of a caution. It probably won't have any effect except if he's in Spain at some stage in the future and the same thing happens he will probably get busted for real.

His postal address in Ireland isn't in his passport, was he asked for this? If not then they are not going to write to him so it's unlikely they will take the matter further.

poisonated

I'm starting to doubt my friend. Obviously I wouldn't tell him this. He is a huge attention seeker though so I ask you, if this happened, is it likely that he would have been arrested at the time and if not, do you think that he could be let go as he was not brought in?

Thanks and sorry if he is making this stuff up.

coylemj

No, it's a plausible story, my understanding of the situation in the UK for example is that the police can issue a caution on the spot, confiscate the gear and send the individual on his/her way.

What information is logged and whether the individual gets an official letter afterwards outlining the official version of what has happened I don't know.