Can the police refuse to provide duty counsel to an accused?
Ontario, Canada
The following excerpt is from R. v. Filsinger, 2014 ONCJ 632 (CanLII):
[56] The availability of duty counsel cannot be used by the police as an excuse to ignore requests by the accused to speak with counsel of choice. Further, even if the accused does not ask to speak with a particular counsel until after speaking with duty counsel, they have the right to have the police facilitate that contact provided they are honestly attempting to obtain legal advice. (See Regina v. Kumarasamy, [2002] O.J. No. 303).
[57] The issue to be determined is not whether the police could have done more in the circumstances, but rather whether what they did was reasonable. (See Regina v. Pickard, [2006] O.J. No. 4123).
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