Where’s my lawyer? Making legal assistance in pre-trial detention effective
Executive Summary
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Introduction
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Pre-trial detention in the EU
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Fair Trials’ work on pre-trial detention
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Effective legal assistance in pre-trial detention decision-making
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Methodology
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Part 1 – Regional trends and recommendations
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1. Access to information on rights
15
2. Access to lawyer
a. Ability to pay
b. Mechanisms for early appointment
c. Confidential consultation
d. Presence and participation of a lawyer
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3. Access to case file
a. Restricted access
b. Modalities of access
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4. Adequate interpretation
a. Lack of access to interpretation services in police custody
b. Quality of interpretation services
c. Inability to challenge the failure to provide interpretation
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5. Alternatives to detention
a. Judges tend to follow prosecutors
b. Lack of trust in alternatives to pre-trial detention
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Conclusions
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Part 2 – Overview of project impact by country
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1. Bulgaria
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2. Greece
35
3. Hungary
37
4. Italy
39
5. Romania
41
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