NCJ Number
67462
Journal
Tijdschrift voor criminologie Dated: (NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1979) Pages: 285-297
Date Published
1979
Length
13 pages
Annotation
THE ROLE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THE DEFENDER IN THE EARLIEST STAGES OF DUTCH CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS ARE ASSESSED.
Abstract
THE APPOINTMENT OF DEFENSE COUNSEL AT THE POINT WHEN OFFENDERS ARE ARRESTED WAS MADE MANDATORY IN 1974 BECAUSE THE SHIFT IN ACCENT FROM FINAL PROCEEDINGS TO THE BEGINNING PHASE OF CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS THREATENED TO COMPROMISE SUSPECTS' RIGHTS. TO DETERMINE THE EXTENT OF DEFENSE COUNSEL'S ACTIVITIES AT THE POLICE STATION, ALL LAWYERS HANDLING CLIENTS ARRESTED IN AMSTERDAM DURING FEBRUARY 1977 WERE SURVEYED WITH A QUESTIONNAIRE CONTAINING 42 STRUCTURED AND UNSTRUCTURED QUESTIONS. ABOUT 85 PERCENT OF THE 229 CASES SURVEYED RESPONDED. RESULTS INDICATE THAT HALF THE OFFENDERS WERE DUTCH, 45 PERCENT WERE UNEMPLOYED, HALF HAD ALREADY BEEN ARRESTED ONE TO THREE TIMES, AND HALF HAD NEVER BEEN CONVICTED BEFORE. MOST OF THE SUSPECTED OFFENDERS WERE ARRESTED FOR PROPERTY OFFENSES. ONLY 13 PERCENT OF THE CLIENTS HAD TO WAIT MORE THAN 24 HOURS FOR AN ATTORNEY, AS COMPARED TO 72.4 PERCENT IN 1972. IN SOME CASES, LAWYERS COMPLAINED OF A LACK OF COOPERATION BY THE POLICE. ABOUT 86 PERCENT OF THE SUSPECTS HAD BEEN QUESTIONED BEFORE ARRIVAL OF THEIR COUNSEL. ABOUT ONE-THIRD OF THE SUSPECTS REFUSED TO MAKE STATEMENTS, BUT HALF CONFESSED (COMPARED TO 80 PERCENT IN 1970). IN 42 PERCENT OF THE CASES, NO WRITTEN REPORT HAD BEEN FILED BEFORE ARRIVAL OF THE LAWYER. ABOUT 41 PERCENT OF THE SUSPECTS HAD THEIR PERIOD OF DETENTION LENGTHENED, AND 48 PERCENT HAD BEEN TAKEN BEFORE THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR. IN THE EYES OF 52 PERCENT OF THE LAWYERS INVOLVED, SUPPLYING INFORMATION WAS THEIR MOST IMPORTANT FUNCTION IN THIS PHASE OF PROCEEDINGS. ON THE WHOLE, THE INTRODUCTION OF THE NEW CONCEPT OF DEFENSE COUNSEL HAS PERMITTED COUNSEL TO INFLUENCE IMPORTANT DECISIONS IN PRETRIAL PROCEEDINGS, BECAUSE COUNSEL ARRIVES AT A MUCH EARLIER STATE AND CAN INTERVENE IN MORE DECISIONS THAN WAS THE CASE EARLIER. ALTHOUGH THE PRESENCE OF COUNSEL IN THE EARLY STAGE THUS GUARANTEES THE QUALITY OF THE LEGAL ASSISTANCE PROVIDED, THE EARLY PHASE OF PROCEEDINGS REMAIN A BASICALLY INQUISITORY PROCESS DOMINATED BY THE POLICE. NOTES AND TABLES ARE SUPPLIED.