Selecting a lawyer

The practical arrangement of police station legal assistance

Bibliographic Data

ID11449200
AuthorsYVONNE DALY (School of Law and Government Dublin City University, Glasnevin Dublin 9 Ireland), Yvonne Marie Daly (0000-0001-5654-665X, Government of Ireland, corresponding author), Vicky Conway (0000-0002-6640-3780, School of Law and Government Dublin City University, Glasnevin Dublin 9 Ireland)
Year2021
Volume48
Issue4
Pages618-644
Publication date2021-12-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Law and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0263-323X • E-ISSN: 1467-6478
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/jols.12317
OpenAlexW3212644066
LanguageEN
Citations received1

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 emphasized within the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the European Union Roadmap directives on procedural rights. 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 the selection of lawyers undermines the effectiveness of the right to legal assistance

Fair trial · Human rights · Jurisprudence · Legal process · Political science · Process (computing · Quality (philosophy · Selection (genetic algorithm · Computer Science · Criminal Law and Evidence · European Criminal Justice and Data Protection · Law · Ombudsman and Human Rights

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