United Nations Principles and Guidelines on Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems
A/RES/67/187
otherwise been granted and where it is in the interests of justice to provide such aid,
are not excluded from receiving assistance;
(b)
The criteria for applying the means test are widely publicized;
(c) Persons urgently requiring legal aid at police stations, detention centres
or courts should be provided preliminary legal aid while their eligibility is being
determined. Children are always exempted from the means test;
(d) Persons who are denied legal aid on the basis of the means test have the
right to appeal that decision;
(e) A court may, having regard to the particular circumstances of a person
and after considering the reasons for denial of legal aid, direct that that person be
provided with legal aid, with or without his or her contribution, when the interests
of justice so require;
(f) If the means test is calculated on the basis of the household income of a
family, but individual family members are in conflict with each other or do not have
equal access to the family income, only the income of the person applying for legal
aid is used for the purpose of the means test.
Guideline 2
Right to be informed on legal aid
42. In order to guarantee the right of persons to be informed of their right to legal
aid, States should ensure that:
(a) Information on the right to legal aid and what such aid consists of,
including the availability of legal aid services and how to access such services and
other relevant information, is made available to the community and to the general
public in local government offices and educational and religious institutions and
through the media, including the Internet, or other appropriate means;
(b) Information is made available to isolated groups and marginalized
groups. Use should be made of radio and television programmes, regional and local
newspapers, the Internet and other means, in particular, following changes to the
law or specific issues affecting a community, targeted community meetings;
(c) Police officers, prosecutors, judicial officers and officials in any facility
where persons are imprisoned or detained inform unrepresented persons of their
right to legal aid and of other procedural safeguards;
(d) Information on the rights of a person suspected of or charged with a
criminal offence in a criminal justice process and on the availability of legal aid
services is provided in police stations, detention centres, courts and prisons, for
example, through the provision of a letter of rights or in any other official form
submitted to the accused. Such information should be provided in a manner that
corresponds to the needs of illiterate persons, minorities, persons with disabilities
and children; and such information should be in a language that those persons
understand. Information provided to children must be provided in a manner
appropriate to their age and maturity;
(e) Effective remedies are available to persons who have not been
adequately informed of their right to legal aid. Such remedies may include a
prohibition on conducting procedural actions, release from detention, exclusion of
evidence, judicial review and compensation;
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