Canadian Court Rules You Have the Right To Google a Lawyer

Posted by timothy on Tuesday February 19, 2013 @02:24AM from the here-it's-one-phone-call-and-a-brandy dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Hollywood crime dramas are infamous for the scene when an accused is taken to a local police station and permitted a single phone call to contact a relative or lawyer. While the storyline is myth — there is no limit on the number of phone calls available to an accused or detainee — Michael Geist reports on a recent Canadian case establishing a new, real requirement for law enforcement. After a 19-year old struggled to find a lawyer using the telephone, the court ruled that police must provide an accused with Internet access in order to exercise their right to counsel."

1 of 105 comments (clear)

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Re:Internet access is not necessary by Endlisnis · 2013-02-19 02:53 · Score: 5, Informative

The problem with just having a list is that the police now get to choose which lawyers will be defending representatives (the police could remove a lawyer from the list because he's very good at winning). The whole point of a phone call is that you get to CHOOSE your lawyer.