Criminal Defence Representation at Garda Stations

This book goes behind the closed doors of the garda station, providing a contemporary account of the role of criminal defence lawyers who represent those arrested, detained and questioned therein. It draws on the expert analysis and experience of authors Vicky Conway and Yvonne Daly, who developed and delivered specialist training for police station lawyers across Europe, and in-depth qualitative interviews that they conducted with 44 practising solicitors in Ireland.

This book is a comprehensive guide for criminal defence lawyers offering insights on the breadth and importance of their role and focusing on the skills necessary to effectively fulfil all aspects of that role.

You are led through the entire process from first contact, to deciding to attend, to pre-interview consultation and then the interview itself. Particular attention is paid to enhanced communication skills and to addressing the needs of vulnerable clients. Perennial issues such as pre-interview disclosure and the right to silence are also comprehensively explored.

It is essential reading for practitioners who attend garda stations regularly, those looking to conduct more of that work or those starting out in law, as well as gardaí. For prosecutors, barristers and judges, it provides a great insight into the dynamics of the earliest stages of the criminal justice system. It will also be of interest to policymakers, academics and students in criminal justice, on both a domestic and international level, and those interested in learning more about the operation of the Irish criminal process.

This title is included in Bloomsbury Professional's Irish Criminal Law online service.

Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Lawyering in the Garda Station
Chapter 3: Access to Legal Assistance: The Law
Chapter 4: The Role of the Lawyer
Chapter 5: Effective Communication in the Garda Station
Chapter 6: Clients with Additional Vulnerabilities
Chapter 7: Children as Clients in the Garda Station
Chapter 8: Attending at the Garda Station
Chapter 9: First Contact with the Client
Chapter 10: The Consultation
Chapter 11: The Interview
Chapter 12: Disclosure and the Right to Silence
Chapter 13: Conclusion
Appendix 1: Role of the Lawyer – ADJRESS
Appendix 2: Detention Periods
Appendix 3: Checklists
Appendix 4: Law Society Guidance for Solicitors Providing Legal Services in Garda Stations (reproduced with the permission of the Law Society of Ireland)
Appendix 5: AGS Code of Practice on Access to a Solicitor by Persons in Garda Custody (reproduced with the permission of An Garda Síochána)
Appendix 6: Information for Persons in Custody and Letter of Rights C.72(S) (reproduced with the permission of An Garda Síochána)
Appendix 7: Custody Record C.84 (reproduced with the permission of An Garda Síochána)
Appendix 8: Risk Assessment Form C.84(A) (reproduced with the permission of An Garda Síochána)

The late Dr Vicky Conway was an Associate Professor of Law at Dublin City University and she specialised in police oversight and accountability, police corruption and Irish policing. She was an Authority Member of the Policing Authority of Ireland and Commission Member of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland as well as an Evaluator for Greco, the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption body. She held a BCL and LLM from University College Cork, a Masters in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Edinburgh and a PhD from Queen's University Belfast where her thesis was entitled 'The Thick Blue Wall: A Socio-Historical Analysis of Police Accountability in the Republic of Ireland'. She also held a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education and Teaching from QUB and a Certificate in Counselling and Psychotherapy. Vicky's experience on the Policing Authority and the Commission on the Future of Policing allowed her to have a deep and unique understanding of policing in Ireland. She was author of Policing Twentieth Century Ireland: A History of An Garda Síochána (Routledge, 2013) and The Blue Wall of Silence: The Morris Tribunal and Police Accountability in Ireland (Irish Academic Press, 2010) and co-author of Irish Criminal Justice: Theory, Process and Procedure (Clarus Press, 2010) with Yvonne Daly and Jennifer Schweppe. She also published many articles and contributed to publications on policing and criminal justice. Vicky passed away in the summer of 2022.<br /><br />Professor Yvonne Daly is Professor of Criminal Law and Evidence at Dublin City University and she has a specific research focus on effective criminal defence and the legal regulation of criminal investigations. Yvonne holds a BCL from University College Cork and a PhD from Trinity College Dublin, where her thesis was entitled ‘Assembly Lines and Obstacle Courses: The Pre-Trial Process in Ireland’. She engages in detailed doctrinal and comparative work across European and international jurisdictions, and empirical research which explores the law in action, as compared with the theory. Her research is grounded in fundamental human rights instruments, such as the Irish Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, and it has been published widely. She is a co-editor of Teaching Evidence Law: Contemporary Trends and Innovations (Routledge, 2020) and the Routledge Handbook of Irish Criminology (Routledge, 2016), a co-author of Irish Criminal Justice: Theory, Process and Procedure (Clarus Press, 2010) a former Board Member of the Association for Criminal Justice Research and Development (2015-2019), former vice-chair of the Ethical, Political, Legal and Philosophical Studies Committee of the Royal Irish Academy (2014-2018), and a current member of the Governing Authority of DCU. Yvonne and her colleague Dr Vicky Conway were central to the development of the bespoke ‘SUPRALAT’ training programme for criminal defence practitioners attending police station interviews, which was developed, with colleagues across Europe, as part of an EU-funded project. They have delivered this training to over 100 criminal defence solicitors in Ireland in conjunction with the Law Society of Ireland and contributed to Garda training on the topic. The SUPRALAT training, and derivatives thereof, have also been delivered in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Scotland, and it has been further expanded and delivered under the EU-funded NETRPRALAT project in Spain, Lithuania and Poland.