In what circumstances has the Court considered the adequacy of advice given by a duty counsel?
Ontario, Canada
The following excerpt is from R. v. Beierl, 2007 ONCJ 267 (CanLII):
In the subsequent case of Regina v. Lachappelle (Justice O’Connor sitting as a trial judge) commented on the adequacy of advice given by a duty counsel specifically with regard to his failure to give any advice about a possible police seizure of blood samples for subsequent analysis. Justice O’Connor describes the failure to do so as “negligence” (par 98) , and states that the defendant met the “first requirement of the test; the legal advice he received was lacking…”. The Justice quotes the excerpts from Braithwaite (that I have previously cited), but does not indicate approval or disapproval with the propositions stated therein. What Justice O’Connor may have meant by the words used is unclear. It is clear that the duty counsel did not discuss a significant area of the law and this may be equivalent to “no advice”.
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