The Isle of Man Law Society prepares rotas of advocates to act as duty advocates at the police station and in the criminal courts. Anyone who is detained by the police may see a duty advocate; there is a rota operated for office hours and another for night time, to ensure that cover is provided round the clock. In addition, those who are charged and face court proceedings and who do not have their own advocate, can call upon the services of the court duty advocate listed for that day. 

Visiting legal consultant Matthew Hickling has recently delivered a two-day refresher course to Manx advocates for those included in those rotas.

Organised by the Isle of Man Law Society as part of its strategy to expose advocates to a broad range of specialist expertise,  the sessions dealt with various aspects of the duties involved in delivering the rota in both the police station and the court.

Mr Hickling, who has been delivering training courses in the Isle of Man for more than 10 years, explained: ‘Anyone at any time can be accused of committing a criminal offence and it is essential that their duty advocate is well equipped to help them through this traumatic experience. Advocates work at all hours of the day and night to robustly ensure that a person's fundamental freedoms are properly protected throughout the difficulties that they will endure in consequence of being arrested and detained. The first day’s training was therefore designed to update, refresh and inspire advocates to give of their best to anyone in any circumstances at any time of the day or night.’

My Hickling spoke of the continuing need for ‘mutual recognition of risk’ between the police and the advocate. Joint risk assessment was, he said, crucial to ensure not only the safety of the duty advocate and the person detained, especially in instances where the detainee had a recognised clinical condition, but also in order that the accused benefited from ‘independent and fearless representation’.

And, against the background of increasingly complex issues surrounding the legal representation of police station detainees that were shaping EU codes of practice, Mr Hickling praised the Manx two-tier system of a junior duty advocate having recourse to an experienced,  on-call senior advocate when required in more serious cases.

On the second day Mr Hickling turned his attention to representing individuals charged with a criminal offence. He explained: ‘When charged, a person is entitled to know the details of the allegation against them.  But the court process can put a person under pressure to deal with the case quickly.  An advocate's task is to ensure that anyone who has been charged with a criminal offence does not have their case compromised or prejudiced by the interests of others.  My second day’s sessions were therefore designed to invigorate court advocates by refreshing their courtroom skills so that anyone who is charged with a criminal offence can be assured that they will have independent and effective legal representation.’ 

For more details visit www.iomlawsociety.co.im.