The caution

The expansion

Code C paragraph 10.5 (2023 Code, Crown copyright, read 19 October 2026) sets it out:

• "You do not have to say anything."
• "But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in Court."
• "Anything you do say may be given in evidence."

It is also given in Welsh.

What it is for

The caution tells a suspect that silence is allowed, that silence may count against them at trial, and that their words may be used. Paragraph 10.8: after any break in questioning the person "must be made aware they remain under caution", and if there is doubt the caution is given again in full.

Where it comes from

Code C paragraph 10.1: a person "whom there are grounds to suspect of an offence" must be cautioned "before any questions about an offence" are put where their answers or silence may be given in evidence. No caution is needed for questions solely to establish identity, to meet a statutory requirement, to conduct a search or to verify a written record.

Paragraph 10.4: a person who is arrested "must also be cautioned" unless impracticable because of their condition or behaviour, or already cautioned immediately before.

The wording above is used on arrest and "all other occasions before a person is charged or informed they may be prosecuted". Annex C paragraph 2 gives the alternative where adverse inferences cannot be drawn, chiefly a detainee who has asked for legal advice and not yet had it: "You do not have to say anything, but anything you do say may be given in evidence."

Paragraphs 10.10 and 10.11 cover the special warnings under sections 36 and 37 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. Inferences may be drawn from an arrested suspect's failure to account for objects, marks or substances, or for their presence at the scene, only if they are first told in ordinary language the offence, the fact to be accounted for, that it may be due to their part in the offence, that a court may draw an inference, and that a record is being made.

When it is used

On arrest, at the start of every interview under caution and after a break. Code E paragraph 3.6 requires the interviewer to "caution the suspect, see Code C section 10" once a recorded interview opens.

This page is educational information about how officers are trained.

Read on this site

• PACE Code C: Detention, Treatment and Questioning
• Caution
• What Is a Police Caution?
• The Police Caution: When and How It Is Given
• PEACE