What rights does an accused or detained person have when they are denied access to counsel?
Alberta, Canada
The following excerpt is from R. v. MacKay, 2000 ABPC 65 (CanLII):
In the case of Leclair and Ross v. The Queen, 1989 CanLII 134 (SCC), 46 C.C.C. (3d) 129, Lamer J. indicates that an accused has the right to contact counsel of his choice and at p.135 he states: ... Nevertheless, accused or detained persons have a right to choose their counsel and it is only if the lawyer chosen cannot be available in a reasonable delay that the detainee or the accused should be expected to exercise the right to counsel by calling another lawyer.”
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