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Selecting a lawyer: the practical arrangement of police station legal assistance

Daly, Yvonne Marie ORCID: 0000-0001-5654-665X and Conway, Vicky (2021) Selecting a lawyer: the practical arrangement of police station legal assistance. Journal Of Law And Society, 48 (4). pp. 618-644. ISSN 0263-323X

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Abstract

The importance of the right to legal assistance for suspects detained for police questioning, as part of the right to a fair trial, has been emphasised within the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the Procedural Rights Roadmap Directives of the European Union. This article examines an overlooked aspect of the protection of that right: the selection of a lawyer in the police station. The selection process is unregulated in jurisdictions across Europe. Using Ireland as a case study, and drawing on interviews with 44 criminal defence solicitors, this article highlights concerns around the influence of police on the selection decision, the favouring of certain (types of) solicitors, and the impact on the quality of legal assistance, particularly for persons with additional vulnerabilities. The authors argue that the lack of a formal, transparent system for selection of lawyers undermines the effectiveness of the right to legal assistance.

Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:legal assistance; investigative interviewing; fair trial rights; criminal process; European Convention on Human Rights; EU Procedural Rights Roadmap Directives
Subjects:Social Sciences > Law
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Science > School of Law and Government
Publisher:Wiley-Blackwell
Official URL:https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jols.12317
Copyright Information:© 2021 The Authors. Open Access (CC-BY-4.0)
Funders:Dublin City University, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Research Fellowship 2018/2019, IReL.
ID Code:25771
Deposited On:03 Dec 2021 12:28 by Yvonne Daly . Last Modified 28 Jul 2022 09:14

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