Inside Police Custody 2
deal of work to do in order to comply with them. The findings also suggest that bar associations in many
of those countries need to assess the way in which duty law and ex officio schemes need to be modified
in order to ensure that competent, motivated lawyers are available for detained suspects who wish to
exercise their right of access to a lawyer. In addition, they should assess the training that lawyers who
advise and assist clients in police detention may, or are required to, undertake, focusing on the knowledge
and skills that lawyers need in order to fulfil the objective, articulated in Article 3 of the Directive on the
right of access to a lawyer, of enabling suspects and accused persons to ‘exercise their rights of defence
practically and effectively’. A useful e-learning training resource for lawyers advising and assisting at the
police station has been developed by the EU funded SUPRALAT project.19
However, the findings also suggest that in order for this objective to be achieved, a number of other factors
must be considered, and appropriate action taken. The research shows that in many of the countries,
lawyers often do not have the time, facilities or information to enable them to provide competent and
informed advice and assistance at the early stages of the criminal process. In all of those countries in
respect of which there is evidence of poor quality of legal aid or ex officio lawyers, there is justified concern
about the low levels of remuneration, uncertainty about whether the lawyer will be paid and, in some
countries, about the length of time before which they are paid.
19
Available at http://www.salduzlawyer.eu/training/theoretical-materials/.
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