78
279
given by legal practitioners who are appropriately qualified and trained and whose
280
actions are properly supervised; (e) public defense services should preserve their
independence (functional and budgetary) from other agencies of the state as well as
281
and, in particular, (f) the State should adopt all
from judges and prosecutors;
appropriate measures so that the defense provided is effective, for which it is necessary
that defenders act diligently. The appointment of public defense counsel for the sole
purpose of complying with a procedural formality would be tantamount to not having
282
technical legal representation.
193.
Similarly, the Commission recently stated that:
The guarantee [...] established in Article 8.2(e) of the American
Convention, implies that the defense counsel should act to ensure the
…continuation
that legal assistance be available at all stages of criminal proceedings.” UN, HRC, Communication No.
775/1997, Christopher Brown v. Jamaica, decision of May 11, 1999, para. 6.6.
279
I/A Court H.R., Case of Vélez Loor v. Panama. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations, and
Costs. Judgment of November 23, 2010. Series C No. 218, para. 132.
280
IACHR, Report No. 28/09, Merits, Dexter Lendore, Trinidad and Tobago, March 20, 2009, para.
46. See also IACHR, Report No. 1/05, Merits, Roberto Moreno Ramos, United States, January 28, 2005, paras.
56 and 57.
281
IACHR, Guarantees for the Independence of Justice Operators: Toward Strengthening Access to
Justice and the Rule of Law in the Americas, OEA/Ser.L/V/II Doc. 44, adopted December 5, 2013, paras. 45 to
48; IACHR, Press Release 76/11 – IACHR Recommends Adoption of a Comprehensive Public Policy on Prisons in
Uruguay,
Washington,
D.C.,
July
25,
2011,
Annex,
available
at
http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/media_center/PReleases/2011/076A.asp, para. 53. This topic has been
developed in particular as regards the Argentine State, where several provinces’ criminal defense and public
prosecution services are both subordinate to a single higher authority under the office of the Attorney General
or Prosecutor. On this point, see, for example: IACHR, Press Release 64/10 – IACHR Rapporteurship Confirms
Grave Detention Conditions in Buenos Aires Province, Washington, D.C., June 21, 2010, available at:
http://www.cidh.oas.org/Comunicados/English/2010/64-10eng.htm; UN, Subcommittee on Prevention of
Torture, Report of the visit of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment to Argentina, CAT/OP/ARG/1, para. 105; UN, Human Rights Committee,
Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 40 of the Covenant, Conclusions and
Recommendations of the Human Rights Committee: Argentina, CCPR/C/ARG/CO/4, published April 31, 2010,
para. 20. See also, UN, Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, Report on the visit of the Subcommittee on
Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to the Republic of
Paraguay, CAT/OP/PRY/1, published June 7, 2010, paras. 89 and 90; and IACHR Regional Meeting of Experts in
Pretrial Detention, May 9 and 10, 2013, Presentation by Dr. Ernesto Pazmiño Granizo, available in Spanish at:
http://www.oas.org/es/cidh/ppl/actividades/prisionpreventiva.asp
282
I/A Court H.R., Case of Cabrera García and Montiel Flores v. Mexico. Preliminary Objection,
Merits, Reparations, and Costs. Judgment of November 26, 2010. Series C No. 220, para. 155; I/A Court H.R.,
Case of Chaparro Álvarez and Lapo Íñiguez v. Ecuador. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations, and Costs.
Judgment of November 21, 2007. Series C No. 170, para. 159; IACHR, Report No. 28/09, Merits, Dexter
Lendore, Trinidad and Tobago, March 20, 2009, para. 45; IACHR, Report No. 41/04, Case 12.417, Merits,
Whitley Myrie, Jamaica, October 12, 2004, para. 62. In this last case, the Commission stated that the
effectiveness of public defense services requires defenders to be “competent” in representing the defendant.
Similarly, UN, HRC, Communication No. 913/2000, Lawrence Chan v. Guyana, decision of October 31, 2005,
para. 6.2; UN, HRC, Communication No. 594/1992, Phillip v. Trinidad and Tobago, decision of October 20,
1998, para. 5.10.
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