Inside Police Custody 2 However, if the obligation to provide written information is not complied with, no specific remedies apply for such cases. The law also does not explicitly require that suspects are entitled to keep a copy of the written information with them during police detention as required by the Directive. There is no special brochure available for suspects subject to EAW proceedings as laid down in the Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA. Amendment CPA-M, transposing the EU Directive on the right to information, introduced into the national criminal procedure law the right to access the materials related to detention. Access to relevant material can be refused, if it could pose a serious threat to the life or the rights of another person, or if the inspection would affect the course of pre-trial proceedings and/or investigation, or if this is dictated by specific reasons of the defence or security of the State. Research findings raise serious concerns that the right to access case materials is not ensured in practice. It appears that the possibility to refuse access as stipulated in Article 157(6) is widely used by the police. The right to a lawyer and to legal aid In Slovenia, suspects and accused persons have the right to access a lawyer in pre-trial criminal proceedings. The source of the right is Article 29 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia, and is further determined with the provisions of the CPA. The law guarantees the right to access a lawyer from the moment of apprehension onwards. Since the 2003 amendment of the CPA, the police are not only obliged to inform the suspect of his/ her right to a lawyer when they place him/her in police custody, but also before they want to procure a statement from the suspect. To ensure that suspects could exercise their right to access to a lawyer effectively, the CPA demands from the police to postpone the interrogation until the arrival of the lawyer, if the suspect declares that he/she wants to retain one. Although the national legislation pertaining to the right to access to a lawyer in police proceedings/ proceedings related to police custody is in line with the EU Directive, certain characteristics of the Slovenian criminal system significantly hinder the access to a lawyer for many suspects – particularly those who cannot afford to pay for the lawyer’s services. For the preliminary (police) phase of the proceedings, the law does not prescribe mandatory legal assistance – not even for suspects deprived of their or vulnerable suspects such as children and person with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities. There are also very limited legal provision concerning legal aid in the police phase. Research shows that in practice this possibility is almost never used. Deprivation of liberty in itself is not considered as a circumstance that requires appointing a legal aid lawyer in the interest of justice. There is also no scheme of duty lawyers that could be contacted in case the suspect who wishes to exercise his/her right to a lawyer does not know which lawyer to call. Such suspects often encounter difficulties when trying to retain a lawyer. Lawyers are also sometimes reluctant to attend interrogations at the police stations, as they believe that the lack of information and access to police files prevents them from providing effective defence. They 89