The Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic states that from the moment of actual detention a person should be kept safe, such person shall be granted an opportunity to protect himself personally, enjoy qualified legal aid from a lawyer as well as have a defense lawyer.21 According to the requirements of the CPC of KR, a defense lawyer must participate in the proceedings from the first interrogation of a suspect (defendant) or his actual arrest. 22 In this case, the defense lawyer’s duty includes the use of all lawful means and methods of protection in order to identify and to provide evidence, exonerating the suspect or mitigating his/her responsibility, and provision of the necessary legal assistance.23 To this date, the norms of the CPC of KR do not fully comply with the constitutional provisions. Criminal procedural legislation, governing the right to defense, formally limits its scope by linking it to a certain procedural status of the suspect or the accused. This formality does not allow persons who are actually limited in freedom, but do not have a certain status in the proceedings in accordance with the law, to require a lawyer. Taking advantage of the fact that actually the detainee has no access to a defense lawyer, operation investigators, officers of the IAB, conduct the first informal questioning (conversation), during which they use torture and ill-treatment in order to extract confessions. As a result, a person who has been tortured, experiencing fear or the threat of being subjected to such methods again, "voluntarily" confesses to the alleged commission of a crime in the presence of a defense lawyer during interrogation within the investigative actions, carried out by the investigator. This practice is contrary to international standards, which guarantee the right to freedom from torture, since timely access to a lawyer plays an important role in the prevention of torture and ill-treatment. Diagram № 13. Participation of defense lawyer 21 Constitution of KR, Article 24, Part 5. CPC of KR, Article 48, Part 2. 23 CPC of KR, Articles 40 and 42. 22 National Centre of the Kyrgyz Republic on the Prevention of Torture | 33