Legal assistance and the protection of suspects in a post-Cadder world

This thesis reviews the extent to which the introduction of a right to legal assistance (RLA) during detention has improved the protection of suspects following: (i) changes that have been made in the Criminal Procedure (Legal Assistance, Detention and Appeals) (Scotland) Act 2010 and (ii) changes proposed in legislation stemming from Lord Carloway’s Review, namely the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill that is currently progressing through the Scottish Parliament. It will do this by identifying and then assessing the four main protections facilitated by the newly introduced RLA in the post- Cadder Scottish criminal justice system. The likely effect on a suspect following the implementation of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill in conjunction with the limited safeguards which have been incorporated into the Bill as it stands at present, means that the enhanced protections intended to ensure increased fairness and justice for all suspects, may in fact largely nullify the intentions of both the Cadder ruling and Lord Carloway’s recommendations, however well intentioned both were. This thesis concludes that with a lack of adequate safeguards in place, combined with high rates of waiver, an increase in the time a suspect can now be detained, and the removal of that cornerstone of criminal procedure, corroboration, all conspire to make a suspect less protected than he would have been prior to the introduction of the RLA in the 2010 Act