The right to see the duty solicitor applies equally to those defendants who are in custody or on bail, but the right is not unlimited - if the defendant is on bail and is charged with an offence that does not carry a sentence of imprisonment the duty solicitor is not permitted to act. A client is only permitted to take advantage of duty solicitor assistance on one occasion in respect to each matter charged. This contrasts with the right to advice from the duty solicitor whilst at the police station, which applies irrespective of what the alleged offence may be, and will last for the duration of any investigation. Some matters have been largely taken outside of the duty solicitor scheme at the police station due to the advent of Criminal Defence Service Direct, a telephone advice service that deals with many minor offences where an interview will not take place.
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In England and Wales, there are two duty solicitor schemes, which operate in parallel. The police station duty solicitor scheme enables a person who is arrested on suspicion of a criminal offence to consult with a solicitor, either in person or on the telephone (and frequently both) whilst in police custody. This right is most often taken up when the suspect is to be interviewed concerning their suspected involvement in the commission of a crime. The court duty solicitor scheme allows a person that has already been charged with an offence to consult with and be represented by a solicitor at the Magistrates' Court on their first appearance if they do not have, or simply have not contacted, their own solicitor.
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The duty solicitor scheme in Scotland is run by the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB), although this being largely supplanted by the Public Defence Solicitors' Office (PDSO). The PDSO is a not-for-profit organisation funded through SLAB.
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She has previously worked as an industrial advocate for the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and as a judge's associate in the Supreme Court of Queensland to Justice Atkinson. Fentiman has also been a board member of the Logan Women's Health and Wellbeing Centre, Secretary of the Centre Against Sexual Violence in Logan and the Duty Solicitor at the Beenleigh Neighbourhood Centre.
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The Central Manchester scheme for example has four solicitors on duty at any one time. To act as a duty solicitor a solicitor must be a member of the Law Society's Criminal Litigation Accreditation Scheme. To become a member of the scheme a solicitor must demonstrate a particular level of competence set by the Law Society. To demonstrate competence, a solicitor must pass a number of assessments.
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She is on the New Zealand Maori Council, and she is a talkback host at Radio Waatea. For many years Harawira has escorted New Zealand Prime Ministers at Te Tii marae, Waitangi, during Waitangi celebrations. In the 1970s Titewhai as a member of Ngā Tamatoa advocated for a "friend in court" for Māori who were appearing in court in the cities. This program later evolved into the Duty Solicitor.
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In April, Ritche reappears when Jay is arrested for having a relationship with an underage girl. Ritchie refuses to represent him, but advises him to speak to the duty solicitor and informs the Mitchells that Jay is being charged with possession of indecent images of a child. In May, Sharon hires Ritchie to represent Bobby Beale (Eliot Carrington) after he is arrested for assaulting his adoptive mother Jane Beale (Laurie Brett). Ritchie advises Bobby not to comment during his police interview but Bobby ignores this.
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The duty solicitor schemes in England and Wales are managed by the Legal Aid Agency. Each magistrates' court that operates such a scheme will have one or more solicitors allocated to any given court session. The police station schemes have one or more solicitors on duty for each police station, or police area (occasionally covering a number of police stations), depending on how busy the scheme. The busiest schemes in the country, can have a number of solicitors on duty at any one time.
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In 1982, Greenwood was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria, and worked full-time as a criminal defence lawyer for Victoria Legal Aid until becoming a professional writer. Since that time, she has remained a locum duty solicitor for Legal Aid, practising in the Sunshine Magistrates' Court. She began writing books at sixteen, but remained unpublished. In 1988 she entered one of her eight novels for the Vogel prize; although not successful, one of the judges offered her a contract for two detective novels.
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Senior Crown Prosecutor Matt Hinckley was a semi-regular character featured in the show between 2006 and 2007, played by Mark Dexter. The character first appeared in "The Green Eyed Monster" (Episode #410) and made his last appearance in "Day of Reckoning". Hinckley is introduced as the long-term boyfriend and fiancée of PC Emma Keane, as well as the station's new regular duty solicitor, in "The Green Eyed Monster" (Episode 410). Emma informs her colleagues that she and Matt have been dating for two years prior to his appointment at Sun Hill.
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Adams left the ODPP in 1996 and worked at the Legal Aid Commission as duty solicitor at their Hurstville office and then in the indictable section of their Parramatta office. In 1997, she began working at the Crown Solicitor's Office, where one of her cases saw her assisting the coroner in the inquest into the murder of state MP John Newman. Adams was admitted as a barrister in 2001, and in 2002 was appointed a Crown Prosecutor. In one prominent case, Adams was the lead prosecutor in the trial of several bikie gang members over a fatal brawl involving Comanchero Motorcycle Club figures at Sydney Airport.. She was appointed as the state's Crown Advocate on 28 November 2011, and gained senior counsel status in 2012.
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A duty solicitor, duty counsel, or duty lawyer, is a solicitor whose services are available to a person either suspected of, or charged with, a criminal offence free of charge (pro bono), if that person does not have access to a solicitor of their own and usually if it is judged by a means test that they cannot afford one. The system is operative in several Commonwealth countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. These solicitors are generally in private practice, in contrast to the public defender system in the United States where an attorney employed directly by the state will be assigned to handle the case from pre-trial to potentially appeal. Similar schemes in the UK are the Public Defender Service in a few centres across England and Wales, and the Public Defence Solicitors' Office for Scotland.
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