Introduction The right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings represents a guarantee for all other procedural rights of suspects and accused persons. A lawyer can play a crucial role in advising and providing active defence, they can prevent miscarriages of justice, ensure equality of arms, protect the right to silence, and provide support for persons in a situation of vulnerability. Lawyers can inquire about and identify signs of victimisation, request medical examinations and file claims on behalf of their clients. In that sense, access to a lawyer as early as possible after arrest provides an opportunity to dissuade and limit instances of police violence during arrest.1 Lawyers also verify the lawfulness of detention and challenge it where necessary.2 Strengthening the right to access to a lawyer is a matter of urgency especially since police violence during arrest and following custody remains a systemic problem within Europe. Physical violence and verbal abuse from the part of the police,5 often towards minorities, non-nationals and racialized groups6 is frequently reported by the CPT. In many EU Member States, there are disproportionate stops and searches or racial profiling, police violence and incarceration of racialized groups.7 The number of people being held in prison while waiting for a trial has increased steadily over the past five years.8 Lawyers’ presence and legal assistance for suspect/accused children without undue delay is of crucial importance considering the stress of the initial arrest. Through proper communication and by building a rapport, the lawyer can help ease the child’s confusion and facilitate access to their special rights and procedural adaptations. By encouraging communication based on trust and open communication, the presence of a lawyer can improve the outcome of the overall criminal process. Lawyers can also make sure that police officers act in the best interest of the child - a duty of all criminal justice actors which tends to be overlooked in favour of efficiency. The presence of a lawyer is vital in these cases because they can detect suggestibility and oppression and can ask for procedures to be adapted accordingly and to make sure that the judicial bodies take into account any special needs. Persons in a situation of vulnerability face even more challenges in their access to justice. Research shows that people with intellectual disabilities are over-represented in the criminal justice system at the police custody stage.3 Data shows that there is a high rate of waivers of rights among persons with intellectual disabilities and false confessions. Persons with intellectual disabilities can feel “frightened and confused”-a lawyer can help them understand their rights and provide support. The right of access to a lawyer is not only essential to ensure an appropriate defence and a fair trial, but is also one of the key safeguards against torture and ill-treatment. As maintained by the antitorture bodies and especially the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), the right of access to a lawyer – together with the rights to information, access to a medical expert, and notification of the detention to a third party – plays a crucial role in preventing potential abuse during the early stages of custody, counting among the most effective safeguards to prevent torture.4 1. Extract from the 21st General Report of the CPT published in 2011, Access to a lawyer as a means of preventing ill-treatment, §18, available at: https://rm.coe.int/16806ccd25. 2. ECtHR, Beuze v. Belgium, App no 71409/10, 24 September 2009, § 136. 3. Gautam Gulati et al. The collaborative development, p.2. 4. E.g. Carver/Handley, ‘Torture Prevention Works’ (OUP, 2016); CPT (2002) 12th General Report, CPT/Inf (2002) 15, para 44. 8 5. CPT, Report on Greece, CPT/Inf (2020) 15, p.48, available at: https://rm.coe.int/16809e2058 ; CPT, Report on Romania, CPT/Inf (2019) 7, p.14, available at: https://rm.coe.int/16809390a6; CPT, Report on Portugal, CPT/Inf (2020) 33, p.10, available at: https://rm.coe.int/1680a05953. 6. Human Rights Watch, “They Talk to Us Like We’re Dogs” – Abusive Police Stops in France, 2020, available at: https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/06/18/they-talk-us-were-dogs/abusive-police-stops-france ; The EU Observer, Pandemic : Roma at the receiving end of racist policing, 04.05.2020, available at: https://euobserver.com/coronavirus/148229 (accessed 13.03.2021) ; The Guardian, Systemic racism and police brutality are British problems too, 04.06.2020, available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/04/systemic-racism-police-brutality-british-problems-black-lives-matter (accessed 13.03.2021). 7. ENAR, #Racialjustice, Policing racialised groups briefing – Disproportionated brutality, violence and racial profiling, 2020 p.1, available at: https://www.enar-eu.org/IMG/pdf/policing_racialised_groups_-_briefing_ojeaku_without_cover_10_revised_22062020.pdf ; FRA, Being Black in the EU -Second European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey, 2018, p.9, available at: https://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra_uploads/fra-2018-being-black-in-theeu_en.pdf. 8. Fair Trials, Pre-trial detention rates and the rule of law in Europe, 2021 (last updated: May 25, 2022), available at: https://www.fairtrials.org/articles/publications/pre-trial-detention-rates-and-the-rule-of-law-in-europe/. 9