cases, detainees are either not given any or are provided only with partial information on their rights during the detention or pre-interview period. In an interview with a special preventive group lawyers also focus on this issue, noting that the detainee first received information about his or her rights from a lawyer. The Public Defender welcomes the placement of posters in police stations in order to raise the level of awareness about the rights of detainees. In the vast majority of police facilities and temporary detention facilities visited by the Special Preventive Group in 2020, large posters containing information on procedural rights were placed at the entrances. However, in addition to informing through posters, which the detainee may not even be able to read, it is important to provide timely information to the detainee in an understandable language. It should also be noted that a list of procedural rights is available in temporary detention facilities in different languages.295 3.4.2. Access to a lawyer and informing the family Access to a lawyer Timely access to a lawyer is the most important guarantee for the prevention of ill-treatment of a detainee by the police, as the person is in the most vulnerable position during the first hours of detention. 296 According to the data processed using a statistical program by the special preventive group, in 2020, the rate of involvement of a lawyer in the case within the first 24 hours has significantly improved. In particular, in 2020, in criminal cases (430 cases in total), a lawyer was involved in 45% of cases in the first 24 hours, and in 29% in 48 hours.297 In 2020, a very small number of detainees interviewed by a special preventive group met a lawyer at a police station.298 In focus groups conducted in 2020, lawyers noted that it is rare for a detainee to meet a lawyer at a police station. The same trend is confirmed by the results of an online survey of lawyers.299 It should also be noted that the time of request or contact with a lawyer by the detainee is still not recorded.300 In 2020, lawyers participating in the focus group noted that in some cases, their meeting with the detainee was artificially delayed after they arrived at the police station. In these cases, police officers told them they did not know if the detainee was in the building or if they really wanted to meet with a lawyer.301 In 2020, more than half of the lawyers in the focus group and online survey said that if they had difficulty locating In Georgian, Russian, English, Azerbaijani, Armenian, German, French, Arabic and Turkish. According to the data processed by the SPSS program, the average length of time under police control is 4.5 hours, and in rare cases, it has been longer. Namely: 8 hours (4 cases), 9 hours (8 cases), 10 hours (6 cases), 11 hours (1 case), 12 hours (1 case), 13 hours (2 cases), 14 hours (2 cases) , 15 hours (1 case), 16 hours (1 case), 17 hours (1 case) and 19 hours (1 case). 297 Statistics on the involvement of a lawyer during the first 24 hours by years: 2017 -15%, 2018 -11.9%; 2019 - 24.6%. 298 Out of the 58 respondents, 5 inmates reported that the lawyer met at the police station. 299 Results of an online survey of lawyers: 28% stated that they mostly meet at a police station; 62% percent say they mostly meet the detainee in the isolator, 10% elsewhere. 300 See Chapter on Implementing the Recommendations. 301 21% of lawyers surveyed online stated that they could not determine the whereabouts of the detainee often or very often in 2020, 13% said that in 2020 there were at least 1 case where the location of the detainee could not be determined. The same trend is confirmed by more than half of the lawyers participating in the focus group. 295 296 96