for legal aid purposes may […] shirk his duties. If they are notified of the situation, the authorities must either replace him or cause him to fulfill his obligations.”126 The authorities must take “positive action” to ensure that the defendant enjoys an effective defence and should provide adequate time and facilities for it. National authorities are, however, required under Article 6 paragraph 3 (c) to intervene only if failure by legal aid counsel to provide effective representation is manifest or sufficiently brought to their attention in some other way.127 The case law does not make a clear-cut distinction between the guarantee provided in paragraph 3 (b) and other guarantees. Complaints regarding the adequacy of time and/ or facilities for preparing the defence are often examined under, or in conjunction with, paragraph 3 (c), guaranteeing the right to real and effective defence; or paragraph 3 (a), guaranteeing the right to be promptly informed of the charge. Sometimes, complaints about facilities for the defence are also examined under Article 8 under the heading of the right to confidential communication with a lawyer. Given this overlap, it is not surprising that many of the monitors’ observations regarding adequate time and facilities are similar to observations regarding the right to legal assistance. For this reason, both of these fair trial rights are examined in this section in the present Report. Moldovan law guarantees the right to adequate time and facilities in Article 17 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The obligation to provide adequate time and facilities is the responsibility of the criminal investigative body and the court. The Criminal Procedure Code provides details in Article 293 on the procedure for the defence lawyer and the defendant to acquaint themselves with the complete case before it goes to court. The time for acquaintance with the case file is not limited, but the prosecutor can set a time limit if the defendant or the defence lawyer abuses this right. Although not expressly provided, it follows that if the defendant or defence lawyer feels that the prosecutor has restricted their time, they can file a complaint with the court. The investigating judge, at the prosecutor’s request, can limit access to some materials or personal data of persons mentioned in the case file to protect a state, commercial, or other legally protected secret or the life, corporal integrity, and liberty of a witness or other persons. Although the judge is the key authority for ensuring the right to adequate time and facilities, criminal investigators, prosecutors, and prison authorities also have an important role to play, especially at the pre-trial stage. The defence lawyer and defendant also have responsibility, as the guarantee is not absolute in nature and a violation is present only if some degree of prejudice is shown. The judge’s challenge is to achieve a proper balance between the requirement to provide adequate time and facilities and the obligation that trials be concluded within a reasonable time. The Constitution guarantees the right to defence in Article 26, stating in paragraph 3 that throughout a trial the parties have the right to be assisted by a lawyer, either chosen or appointed ex-officio. The Criminal Procedure Code restates the general guarantees of the right to defence in Article 17 and in Article 69 which provides a detailed and exhaustive list of circumstances that require the mandatory participation of a lawyer.128 The investigative 126 ����� See Artico v. Italy, Judgment of the European Court, 30 April 1980, para. 33. 127 ����� See Kamasinski v. Austria, Judgment of the European Court, 19 December 1989, para. 65. 128 ������������������������������������������������������������������������������� The participation of a defender in criminal proceedings will������������������� ����������������������� be compulsory, if: 1) It is requested by the suspect, accused, defendant; 2) The suspect, accused, defendant has difficulties defending himself, being dumb, deaf, blind or has other essential difficulties of speech, hearing, seeing and physical or mental disabilities; 64