Inside Police Custody 2 believe that in such circumstances, it is not in the client’s best interest that their presence allows for the written record of the interrogation to be used as evidence later in court. However, even the official note of the suspect’s statement (made without a lawyer) is kept in the case file through the entire criminal proceedings, including trial and the presiding judge is acquainted with the statement. Furthermore, the official note of the statement often provides the basis for further police investigative action and therefore has an important impact on the course and the outcome of criminal proceedings. This confirms the importance of the lawyer’s involvement in the police stage of the proceedings and underlines the need to establish an effective legal aid and mandatory defence system for detained suspects. Recommendations To the Government and the State Assembly: 1. To amend the CPA so that the right to free-of-charge interpretation of private lawyer/client consultation is clearly included in the relevant legal provisions; 2. To amend the CPA to extend mandatory legal assistance to police proceedings, similarly as this is arranged in the court phase of the proceedings; 3. To amend the CPA ensuring suspects and accused persons have effective access to legal aid, with clear pathways and conditions from the time they are suspected of having committed a criminal offence, including police detention proceedings; 4. To set up a scheme of duty lawyers that could be contacted by the police to assist the suspect to retain a lawyer if the suspect so requests; 5. To set up a requirement and to ensure training for lawyers that provide representation at the police stage of the proceedings. 6. To clarify in the law that suspects have the right to keep the Letter of Rights with them, while they are detained. To the Police: 7. To provide clear guidelines to police officers assessing the need for an interpreter in police proceedings to widely ensure professional interpretation to all suspects who do not speak or understand the official language of the proceedings; 8. To provide the suspects with written translation of essential documents related to police detention; 9. To introduce mechanisms for checking whether the suspect understood the information provided by the police; e.g. asking the suspect to repeat the information in his/her own words and providing additional explanations; 10. To ensure access to police documents and materials to suspects and their lawyers for the purpose of effective defence.   A.9 Spain – Conclusions and Recommendations Major issues Right to interpretation The legal framework on the right to interpretation and translation is generally compliant with the provisions of the Directive, as it seeks to ensure access to interpretation at the earliest phase of the arrest. However, 90