The issue focused on the question of what is the proper amount of time an individual can be held in pre-trial detention. The issue was set out in the following question: "What is the proper amount of time an individual can be held in pre-trial detention and is it not more than that?"

The question was put to the legal panel of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the case of O'Higgins v. the United Kingdom.

The question was first put to the