Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Belgium, Hungary and Singapore, and some states of Australia.
Brazil is the only country in which an office of government-paid lawyers with the specific purpose of providing full legal assistance and representation to the needy free of charge is established in the constitution.
The Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution, as interpreted by the Supreme Court, requires the US government to provide legal counsel to indigent defendants in criminal cases.
In civil law countries, following the model from the French Napoleonic Code of criminal procedure, the courts typically appoint private attorneys at the expense of the state.
These chambers retain barristers who are employed by the state government to represent legally-aided clients who are charged with serious indictable offences.
[6] The Constitution of Brazil uniquely provides for a public defenders' office (Defensoria Pública) at both state and federal levels.
Questions of payment are deferred until the end of a trial, and the court will decide the cost of the case to the losing party.
[18] The Pro Bono Services Office of the Law Society runs the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, which provides criminal legal assistance to the poor and needy who are unable to afford a lawyer, and are facing charges in a Singapore court for non death-penalty offences under statutes covered by CLAS.
[19] There are a small number of Public Defender Service offices in England and Wales with lawyers employed directly by the Legal Aid Agency to provide advice in police stations and representation in magistrates and crown courts.
In Scotland a wider network of Public Defender Solicitor Office (PDSO) lawyers employed by the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) are available to represent those accused of crimes in addition to private lawyers (duty solicitors) paid under the legal aid scheme.
[24] Different jurisdictions, however, use different approaches in providing legal counsel for criminal defendants who can't afford private attorneys.