Why do a high proportion of suspects not receive legal advice at the police station?

There are, however, reason that explain the request rates for legal advice which do not rest entirely on the police’s assistance or hindrance.  Brown et al.’s study in 1992 suggests that suspects request neither to see nor speak to solicitor ‘because they are not informed (wholly or partly) of their rights’.  If a suspect is not informed of their rights it is acceptable to say most will be ignorant of their entitlement to legal advice.  Even if suspects were partly informed the likelihood of the detainee questioning the police to reiterate their rights is low, as ‘most will be frightened and apprehensive’ being held involuntarily in unfamiliar surroundings.   This leads on to another influencing factor; suspects  being desperate to leave the police station.  The thought of delaying their departure to wait for a solicitor to arrive, it seems, plays a major part in the number declining legal advice.  Sanders et al. found numerous different responses from detainees when an officer asked if they wanted a solicitor, including, ‘well it depends how long I’m here for..’, which displays how unsure suspects can be feeling at the time of interviewing, they believe that not requesting advice will result in them being released from custody earlier (which does have grounds of truth). 

Another explanation for low take-up of advice is suspects not being informed that it is free.  Detainee’s should have access to free advice from a duty solicitor while they are in the police station, this is a provision of the law and suspects should be informed so both orally and in writing by the custody officer.  However, Sanders et al. found 31.6 per cent of suspects who knew they were entitled to legal advice were unaware that it was free. 

This brings the discussion to the issue of detainees requesting legal advice but failing to receive it.  Soon after PACE was introduced a Home Office research Study by Brown found a 4 per cent discrepancy in those requesting and those receiving  advice, this and subsequent research instigated a revision of the Code of Practice in 1991.  This resulted in ‘rights of suspects [being] clarified, and obligations on the police to inform them of their rights [being] increased.’  This did result in increases in request rates in police stations studied yet did not cause a dramatic increase.  It could be that police officers are still  failing to inform suspects of their rights.  Sanders and Bridges ‘estimated that in some 10.5 per cent of cases which the police knew the researches were observing the police actually broke the law’.   Another factor influencing suspects is their belief as to whether they need advice or not.  Detainees often believe their offence too trivial or are quite fatalistic about their circumstance, for example, assuming a solicitor could not help them at all as they were involved in the offence. As Sanders and Bridges explain ‘confidence (or, indeed fatalism) may sometimes be misplaced.  Many suspects are unaware of how helpful a solicitor could be in ensuring that their stories are told properly’.

Other reasons for detainees not taking up the offer of legal advice is that under PACE in certain circumstances suspects are not entitled to it.  Rights are ‘severely curtailed in respect of suspects detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 1989’, also in cases where the suspect is violent or likely to become violent and unable to understand what is being said to them.  However this will account for a very small percentage of those not receiving advice.  There is also the matter of offenders being put off solicitors. There is evidence which suggests detainees who have been in custody before may have accepted legal advice on their previous detention at the police station and found  solicitors to be of little benefit to them. Baldwin has made summaries of a number of tape recorded cases  where a solicitor was present and has paid particular attention to their role in the interrogation.  There was some astounding findings; ‘in many instances lawyers sat in silence when the situation seemed to cry out for them to intervene or to raise some objection’, also their was cases of the solicitor acting almost as a third interviewer.  Not only this but there are cases where confession is encouraged by solicitors over the phone and in the interview room.  Also there are cases when junior members of the legal profession are employed to mete out advice even though their experience is unmatched to that of a police officer.  These actions of the legal profession are likely to deter suspects from accepting legal advice when they weigh up the cost and benefits.  Suspects should be encouraged to contact their own solicitor, should they have one,  so they are dealing with a familiar person.

In conclusion, it is evident that there are a broad range of reasons why suspects do not receive legal advice at police stations.  These range from individual detainee’s viewpoints to unlawful police practices.  However, it is true that the number of suspects receiving advice has risen considerably since the introduction of PACE, as well as introducing further guidelines to prevent police from ‘getting around’ the rules, the question that should be posed is, ‘Does every suspect actually need advice?’.  As long as suspects are making informed decisions there are certainly plenty of cases where advice is not in their best interests.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alderson, J. (1992) ‘The Police’ in E. Stockade and S. Casale (eds.) Criminal Justice Under Stress,  London: Blackstones

Baldwin, J. (1992) The Role Of Legal Representatives At Police Stations, Royal Commission on Criminal Justice, Research Study No 2,3 and 4, London: HMSO

Belloni, F. and Hodgson, J. (1999) Criminal Injustice, Basingstoke: Macmillan

Bottomley, K, Coleman, C., Dixon, D., Gill, M. and Wall, D. (1991) The Impact Of PACE: Policing In A Northern Force, Hull: Centre For Criminology and Criminal Justice

Davies, M., Croall, H. and Tyrer, J. (1998) Criminal Justice: An Introduction to the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales. Second Edition, London: Longman

Sanders, A. (1997) ‘From Suspect to Trial’, in M. Maguire, R. Morgan and R. Reiner, The Oxford Handbook of Criminology, Second Edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press

Sanders, A. and Young, R. (1999) ‘The Right To Legal Advice’ in C. Walker and K. Starmer (eds.) Miscarriages of Justice, London: Blackstones

Sanders, A and Young, R. (2000) Criminal Justice, Second Edition, Butterworths: London

Williamson, T. (1996) ‘Police investigation: the criminal justice context’ in

F. Leisham, B. Loveday and S.P. Savage (eds.) Core Issues in Policing, London: Longman.

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