Report and Recommendations - Scottish Government
Report and Recommendations - Scottish Government Report and Recommendations - Scottish Government
eing interviewed, or otherwise hinder an investigation, by deliberately askingfor a solicitor whom he/she knows will not be available within a reasonabletime. However, since it is a matter for the suspect to decide whether to answerquestions, he/she is quite entitled to refuse to do so if his/her solicitor ofchoice is not available. Equally, although the suspect may be keen to have theservices of a particular solicitor, and may even be prepared to wait severalhours, if not days, for him/her to appear, the Review does not consider that itwould be in accordance with the effective protection of a suspect’s Article 5rights to entertain a lengthy period of detention, even although that might suitboth suspect and solicitor in Article 6 terms.6.1.30 It is estimated that over two thirds of suspects requesting legal advice name apreferred solicitor, although that does not mean that he/she will have hadprevious dealings with that solicitor. As already observed, it may not bepossible to make contact with the nominated solicitor. That solicitor may notbe willing or available to provide advice within a reasonable time. TheReview understands that, where the police seek to contact a named solicitorthrough the Scottish Legal Aid Board’s Contact Line Centre, there are limitsapplied to how long the Centre will continue to attempt to contact that solicitor.At present, the vast majority of nominated solicitors have been able to put inplace business systems which enable them to respond to calls from the Centrewithin an acceptable time. The system is that, if the nominated solicitor doesnot answer the call immediately, he/she will have 25 minutes, with a remindercall after the first 15 minutes, to respond and advise that he/she will contactthe police station and provide advice within a reasonable time. Again, the vast156
majority of suspects seeking advice will obtain that advice, initially bytelephone, within half an hour. If the suspect requests the solicitor’s personalattendance at the police station, a period of one hour is generally deemedreasonable in an urban area and two hours is acceptable in rural areas,although this will depend on exactly where the suspect is being held. Theremust be a substantial degree of flexibility. Account will have to be taken ofmany factors including, for example, the distance which the solicitor has totravel, the availability of transport and the prevailing weather conditions.6.1.31 Where no contact is made with a nominated solicitor within the specified time,or if the named solicitor cannot, or is not willing to, provide advice within areasonable time, the Centre will call the police back to inform them of this andto offer immediate telephone advice if the suspect requests their advice as analternative to that of his/her solicitor of choice. A similar procedure will thenfollow if the suspect requests personal attendance. The Centre will organisean attendance by one of the solicitors on the duty scheme or, if necessary, byone of its own solicitors. From what it has seen at first hand, the Reviewconsiders that this is a sensible and practical approach, in which appropriateefforts are made to contact the solicitor requested by the suspect, but thisrequest is not allowed to obstruct the investigation indefinitely or to prolongunnecessarily the suspect’s time in police custody.6.1.32 It has to be recognised that there may, in certain situations, be a conflictbetween the business interests of the solicitor and the Article 5 requirementthat a suspect should not be detained for more time than is necessary and157
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majority of suspects seeking advice will obtain that advice, initially bytelephone, within half an hour. If the suspect requests the solicitor’s personalattendance at the police station, a period of one hour is generally deemedreasonable in an urban area <strong>and</strong> two hours is acceptable in rural areas,although this will depend on exactly where the suspect is being held. Theremust be a substantial degree of flexibility. Account will have to be taken ofmany factors including, for example, the distance which the solicitor has totravel, the availability of transport <strong>and</strong> the prevailing weather conditions.6.1.31 Where no contact is made with a nominated solicitor within the specified time,or if the named solicitor cannot, or is not willing to, provide advice within areasonable time, the Centre will call the police back to inform them of this <strong>and</strong>to offer immediate telephone advice if the suspect requests their advice as analternative to that of his/her solicitor of choice. A similar procedure will thenfollow if the suspect requests personal attendance. The Centre will organisean attendance by one of the solicitors on the duty scheme or, if necessary, byone of its own solicitors. From what it has seen at first h<strong>and</strong>, the Reviewconsiders that this is a sensible <strong>and</strong> practical approach, in which appropriateefforts are made to contact the solicitor requested by the suspect, but thisrequest is not allowed to obstruct the investigation indefinitely or to prolongunnecessarily the suspect’s time in police custody.6.1.32 It has to be recognised that there may, in certain situations, be a conflictbetween the business interests of the solicitor <strong>and</strong> the Article 5 requirementthat a suspect should not be detained for more time than is necessary <strong>and</strong>157
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