New rules governing how long people can be kept in Police custody may be changed before they come into effect if an amendment is backed by MPs today.

At present, people can be held for up to 72 hours before they must be charged or released.

Changes due under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) next summer reduce the time limit for people suspected of most types of offences to just 24 hours.

The idea is to ensure that Police don't keep anyone in the cells for longer than necessary, and are encouraged to complete investigations quickly.

However Attorney General Kim Wilson feels 24 hours is too short a time period for Bermuda, bearing in mind the challenges investigators face in getting forensic tests and expert opinions from overseas.

She wants to change the period to 42 hours instead through the Police and Criminal Evidence Amendment (No. 2) Act, which is being debated in the House of Assembly today.

The new bill would bring Bermuda in line with proposals being considered in the UK, where PACE has been in place since 1984.

While the law would mean most suspects would have to be charged or released after 42 hours, there would still be scope for those suspected of the most serious offences to be held longer.

Police would be able to keep them in the cells for up to 66 hours before having to ask a Magistrate for permission to keep them longer for up to 96 hours.

The only exception to the 96-hour limit would be suspects in gun crimes. Under recent changes to the Firearms Act, people being investigated for those offences can be held for up to 28 days without charge.

Under the PACE provisions being discussed today, reviews would have to be conducted regularly by senior officers, to ensure investigations are progressing in a timely fashion.

After six hours, the review would be done by a Custody Sergeant. That would be repeated every 12 hours by an Inspector, up to the 42-hour mark. At that point, the investigation must be monitored by a Chief Inspector.

Once the person has been in custody for 54 hours, a Superintendent would review the progress of the inquiry up to the 66-hour point, when a Magistrate would step in and decide whether the person can be kept up to the 96-hour maximum.

Attorney General Kim Wilson said: "It must be stressed that the provisions of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) not only provide assistance to the Police as it relates to the manner in which they must address their duties, it also provides a safeguard to persons in custody whereby various rights are provided to those said persons."

She added: "The proposed amendments are as a result of considered and deliberated recommendations made by the PACE Committee which is chaired by me and has full representation from the major stakeholders for full and frank consultation. The other members of the committee represent members of the Judiciary, Police Service, Department of Public Prosecutions, the Legal Aid Office, and criminal defence practitioners.

"I would add that with the increased detention period there is the balancing safeguard for the person being detained to ensure that their rights are not being abused, as well as ensuring that the investigation is being carried out swiftly so as to not detain the individual unnecessarily and unlawfully."

Shadow Attorney General Trevor Moniz anticipates defence lawyers may have civil liberties concerns over the amendments nonetheless. However, he said the United Bermuda Party would support them, explaining: "We feel this is justified in the interests of public safety".

Mark Pettingill of the Bermuda Democratic Alliance, who is also a defence lawyer, said his party would also back the bill, but issued a note of caution.

"This again is a balancing act between the presumption of innocence and the interest of justice in solving crimes," he said.

"Any period of incarceration of an individual, particularly in circumstances where they can be shown to be completely innocent – and be mindful, this does happen is a serious issue.

"If the time is to be extended there must be safeguards to ensure it is not abused, even the consideration of compensation if no charges are brought and the evidence was lacking to begin with."

Defence lawyer Elizabeth Christopher said that in her experience, Police have not always respected custody time limits and "they have a habit of arresting and holding people for the most trivial of offences". She said that if the amendments bring in tighter guidelines, "it's a step in the right direction."

However, she repeated concerns expressed after the Firearms Act amendment that there had not been wide enough debate before putting the bill to politicians.

"It would be nice to have some consultation with the Bar Association, the governing body of criminal defence lawyers," she said. "Traditionally, that's what they did."