Inside Police Custody 2 In practice, the exercise of the right to access to a lawyer is respected, as well as the confidentiality of lawyer/client interviews. The legal aid scheme is organised in an efficient fashion that allows legal assistance to be provided in a timely manner. However, field-research has shown that the Ertzaintza applies an exception to the mandatory nature of access to a lawyer for arrested persons in cases of arrests carried out by virtue of a warrant. There is no legal basis for this exceptional practice that amounts to a breach of a fundamental right. In addition, police forces have been interpreting that the role of the lawyer during the statement procedure should be limited to asking questions or requesting clarification only when the arrested person has finished responding to the questions of the police. This interpretation excludes the capacity to, for example, intervene to advise their client not to answer some of the questions of the police and hardly seems compatible with the case law of the Constitutional Court, nor is it compatible with the Directive 2013/48. As regards lawyer’s performance, it also stands out from the fieldwork that most lawyers have not yet interiorised the new possibility of having a confidential interview with their clients before the statement procedure. Recommendations Right to interpretation 1. Create the Official Register of Judicial Translators and Interpreters for registering those professionals with the corresponding authorisation and qualifications, as provided in the law. 2. Develop practical guidance on how to assess the need for interpretation and translation. 3. Provide detainees systematically with translated versions of Letters of Rights, when available. In cases where there are no translated versions in the language required, request a translation over the telephone in the very first information on rights and reasons for arrest. Right to information 4. Draft the Letter of Rights in an accessible and clear language. 5. Allow detainees to keep a copy of the letter of rights with them as a rule and only prevent them from doing so in extraordinary circumstances, that should be recorded in the police file 6. Modify the interpretation of the concept of essential elements/documents, in line with the Directive and the interpretation of the Constitutional Court. 7. Organise trainings and issue guidelines for lawyers insisting on the need to systematically ask for available documents to be disclosed to them. Right to access to a lawyer 8. Ensure systematic access to a lawyer for all detainees with no exception, including in cases of arrests upon a warrant. 9. Ensure that lawyers are allowed to perform their duties during interrogations by actively intervening and counselling their clients, as provided in the Directive. 10. Organise trainings and issue guidelines for lawyers on the importance of holding interviews with their clients under police custody prior to the statement procedure. 92