The right to appoint a defense attorney and a court-appointed representative for a foreigner
Czasopismo Prawa Karnego i Nauk Penalnych Rok XXVI: 2022, numer 3-4
Journal of Criminal Law and Penal Studies Volume XXVI: 2022, No. 3-4
Daniel Macur, Ewa Niezabitowska, Magdalena Pająk, Michał Sykała
Full text in PDF (open access)
Keywords
refugees, crisis, right to defence, Polish-Belarusian border, state of emergency, restrictions on rights and freedoms
Summary
The refugee crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border related to the appearance on the
border of a significant number of people who were brought to the territory of Belarus
and then directed to the territory of Poland in an organized manner by Belarusian ser-
vices led to a number of actions by, among others, Polish authorities, the legal aspects
of which required urgent elaboration. This article addresses the issue of the right to
appoint a defense attorney and a court-appointed representative for a foreigner. Some
countries offer comprehensive legal assistance to foreigners. In our country, there is no
comprehensive system of legal aid covering the various proceedings pending against and
involving a foreigner. As a result, a foreigner demonstrating a need for legal aid or legal
representation is forced to file multiple applications at different stages and for individual
actions under different procedures.
A foreigner may be in different procedural roles, which triggers the need to apply for
free legal assistance on diverse legal grounds. Some proceedings contain gaps in access
to legal aid, this is clearly evident in the case of administrative proceedings. While the
law on granting international protection to foreigners provides for access to free legal
aid, this only happens at the stage of appealing a negative decision.
Bibliography
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< https://www.echr.coe.int/documents/guide_art_6_pol.pdf >.
< https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/PL/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32013R0604&from=PL >.
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