The meaning and importance of access to legal Representation

Access to legal representation refers to the ability of a defendant in a criminal case to talk privately with a lawyer. Such access can be very important for defendants because confronting a criminal charge in court is complicated. Rules of criminal procedure and the criminal codes that stipulate punishments and sentences are generally mysterious to laypeople. Criminal defence attorneys are professionals trained to understand legal systems and to provide confidential advice to people facing prosecution. As such, access to legal representation can be critical to assuring defendants receive justice.

Access to legal representation is important even before a trial formally begins (see Worden et al, 2017). Lawyers have a role in the prevention of mistreatment of their clients by the justice system through unjust detention or torture before a defendant’s case is heard in court. An arrested person who is unable to access legal representation immediately may face significant pressure to plead guilty or make other important decisions under duress and without full appreciation of their consequences. Where access to legal representation is obtained only after interrogation by law enforcement agents, it may avail a defendant of precious few additional options (see both Davies and Clark, 2019 and Pruitt and Colgan, 2010).

Obstacles to legal representation in rural places

In 2013, the United Nations endorsed the notion that states should consider the provision of legal representation for criminal defendants to be their duty and responsibility (see United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2013). It singled out rural areas as a special concern. States, though, frequently provide only limited funding for legal representation to criminal defendants. This can have particularly serious effects in rural places where providing access to legal representation is often costly and complicated (see Pruitt and Colgan, 2010). Rural lawyers frequently have to travel great distances to meet their clients. Rapidly linking an attorney to a defendant may simply be impossible where terrain or weather are challenging.

These challenges mean that access to legal representation is often measurably worse in rural areas.