Right to contact counsel of choice

Right to contact counsel of choice

The right to contact counsel of choice was at the heart of two Quebec Court of Appeal decisions. In R c. Blackburn-Laroche, 2021 QCCA 59, the appellate court held that police officers had not made the necessary effort to reach the lawyers chosen by the respondent. As a result he was deprived of a reasonable opportunity to contact them. In another case, R. c. Tremblay, 2021 QCCA 24, the appeal court held that “the police did not fulfill their well-known duty to facilitate the respondent’s exercise, at the first reasonable opportunity, of her constitutional right to retain and instruct counsel.”

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