Although they receive federal and state funding, they are independent non-profit organizations which rely on lawyers to staff them on a volunteer basis.
A person must formally declare that they cannot afford regular legal aid to benefit from public defenders' services.
Police must inform those arrested or detained of their right to speak to counsel and provide them with a reasonable opportunity to do so.
[8][9] In October 2010, the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed in the case R v Sinclair that the right to counsel during interrogation is not absolute.
A suspect under investigation only has the right to retain a lawyer to assist in securing bail, making procedural complaints, and seeking details from the police on the nature of the crime alleged, and not to start building a defense.
A suspect gains the right to retain a lawyer upon having been interrogated or subjected to movement restrictions by the authorities.
In cases defined as involving state secrets, the right to counsel is more heavily restricted: a lawyer may only be appointed to assist the suspect with the investigating body's permission.
The Chinese government operates thousands of legal aid centers nationwide for indigent defendants.
Some centers offer free legal advice to anyone living in the department while others restrict their services to those with modest incomes.
The Israeli Justice Ministry maintains the Public Defense unit to provide state-funded legal counsel to eligible defendants.
In criminal trials, all defendants charged with a severe crime carrying a penalty of at least 10 years imprisonment and indigent defendants charged with a crime carrying a penalty of at least 5 years imprisonment are entitled to representation by the Public Defense, as are juveniles and the disabled.
All indigent detainees and detainess for whom a request has been filed for remand until the end of proceedings are also entitled to representation from the Public Defense, as are prisoners who are facing parole hearings, anyone facing extradition proceedings, and sentenced defendants requesting retrial when cause is found.
[32] New Zealand has a Legal Aid system which provides government funding for lawyers in limited circumstances where defendants cannot afford to retain their own counsel.
However, in order to qualify for Legal Aid, defendants must meet certain criteria related to the seriousness of the offence or claim,[34] and must earn an annual income of less than $27,393 NZD (adjustable based on household size).
[36] As a result of the limitations and shortfalls in these services, it is commonly reported that New Zealander's right to a fair trial is being compromised due to lack of access to counsel.
Defendants have the right to refuse counsel unless illiterate or a minor, in which case a judge may impose a lawyer on the accused.
The Russian Code of Criminal Procedure mandates that if a detained person has no lawyer, the detective, investigator, or judge must request the local bar association to appoint an attorney for the suspect.
The head of the bar association then distributes appointments between its members, who do not have the right to refuse the case assignments.
For cases tried by the Federal Security Service or Main Investigative Directorate, there is a closed group of attorneys who represent defendants.
William Hawkins in his A Treatise of the Pleas of the Crown: or a system of the principal matters, relating to that subject, digested under their proper heads Vol.
of 1721 wrote........ [I]t requires no manner of Skill to make a plain and honest Defence, which ... is always the best; the Simplicity and Innocence, artless and ingenuous Behaviour of one whose Conscience acquits him, having something in it more moving and convincing than the highest Eloquence of a Person speaking in a cause not their own.This changed as more and more prosecutions became, for reasons of public policy, funded by the Crown, who employed professional counsel.
An innate sense of fair-play prevailed therefore, permitting defence counsel to be present, albeit at the defendant's own expense.
Legal aid in criminal trials is also means-tested unless the defendant is under 16 or under 18 and in full-time education, or receiving certain benefits.
[47] The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right…to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
[49] However, as described below, there are certain civil proceedings where parties have a right to appointed counsel; such a right is pursuant to the Fourteenth Amendment's due process or equal protection clause, a state constitution's due process or equal protection clause, or a federal/state statute.
While the Supreme Court recognized this right gradually, it currently applies in all federal and state criminal proceedings where the defendant faces authorized imprisonment greater than one year (a "felony") or where the defendant is actually imprisoned, including imposition of a suspended incarceration sentence of any length.
[54] Criminal defendants in misdemeanor cases do not have a right to appointed counsel if they are not sentenced to actual imprisonment,[55] even if that conviction is later used to enhance sentencing for another crime,[56] or even if the revocation of probation may result in actual imprisonment (although for parole revocation, the court evaluates the right to counsel on a case-by-case-basis).
[65] For civil contempt proceedings related to failure to pay child support, the U.S. Supreme Court has said there is no federal constitutional right to counsel even if the litigant is being jailed, provided that all of the following is true: a) the state is providing sufficient procedural safeguards to ensure the person actually has the ability to pay but is refusing to do so; b) the matter is not "unusually complex"; and c) the plaintiff is neither the government nor represented by counsel.
[75] In Faretta v. California (1975), the court held that a criminal defendant has the right to knowingly and voluntarily opt for pro se representation at trial.