
– Title: “Criminal defence at police stations: a comparative and empirical study”
– Lecturer: Dr. Anna Pivaty, postdoctoral researcher, University of Maastricht.
. Dr. Pivaty conducts research on the influence of European
norm-making institutions on the enforcement of fair trial rights in the
individual European states. In 2004-2010, she was involved in
strategic litigation before the European Court of Human Rights, while
working at the Open Society Justice Initiative, an international NGO
involved in promoting law and justice reforms worldwide. She was also
trainee at the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights
– Webinar structure: 20-25 minutes
lecture, 20 minutes questions/interventions
– Content: Criminal
defence at the investigative stage has attracted growing attention due to the
shifting focus of the criminal process onto pre-trial stages, and the recent
European regulations adopted in this area. Increasingly, justice practitioners
and legislators across the EU have begun to realise that ‘the trial takes place
at the police station’. This book provides a comprehensive legal, empirical and
contextual analysis of criminal defence at the investigative stage from a
comparative perspective. It is a socio-legal study of criminal defence
practice, which draws upon original empirical material from England and Wales
and the Netherlands. Based on extensive interviews with lawyers, and extended
periods of observation, the book contrasts the encountered reality of criminal
defence with the model role of a lawyer at the investigative stage derived from
European norms. It places the practice of criminal defence within the broader
context of procedural traditions, contemporary criminal justice policies and
lawyers’ occupational cultures.