Criminal defense attorney (Liechtenstein)

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In the Principality of Liechtenstein, a criminal defense attorney (in Liechtenstein and Austria mostly only defense counsel ) is understood to be a person who provides support and advice to the accused in criminal proceedings (Section 24 (1) StPO). The defense lawyer is entitled and obliged to be partisan in favor of the accused.

Position of the defense lawyer

In the formal sense, according to Section 24, Paragraph 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, any person with personal rights can be a “defense attorney” in court (with exceptions in appeals proceedings and according to Section 25, Section 1 and Section 26, Section 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure) as soon as the accused has authorized them as legal counsel or a person who was appointed to the accused under the provisions of this law as legal counsel ( legal aid ). Legal training is not required to take on a job as a criminal defense lawyer in Liechtenstein. At the request of the court, the Liechtenstein Bar Association appoints only registered lawyers as legal aid defenders.

The defense attorney is himself a party in criminal proceedings. He is not part of the court or the public prosecutor's office , but independent of them. He is not bound by instructions from the court or the public prosecutor's office and, conversely, cannot issue any instructions.

Special regulations apply in the area of disciplinary law .

Word meaning

Defender in the legal sense is anyone who stands up for the rights of the accused in proceedings and is appointed to do so, regardless of whether he is acting for a fee or free of charge.

In earlier times, depending on the function and which status was represented and before which court was represented, also as: advocate, adviser, advocate, advocate, leader of violence, violent agent, violent carrier, gerhab, gerhaber, authorized representative, mandatarius, procurator, legal finder, administrator, Specialist, spokesman, syndicus, auditor, opponent, designated or simply called representative.

Defense lawyer rights

In order to be able to adequately perform his task vis-à-vis the accused, the defense counsel has special rights to which only he is entitled (examples):

  • he may advise the accused / defendant at any stage of the proceedings (but with restrictions on the questioning of the accused himself at the main hearing);
  • he may conduct his own investigations in favor of the accused;
  • he has the right to inspect files ;
  • he has the right to be present during searches or a local inspection ;
  • In Liechtenstein he has only a limited right to be present at the hearing of the accused (§§ 69 Paragraph 2, 115a, 147 Paragraph 3) ;;
  • he has various application rights;
  • he is usually allowed to speak to the arrested accused and exchange letters without supervision;
  • he may ask members of their Entschlagungsrecht to exercise;
  • He has the right to be present at the main hearing , to put motions and questions and the right to the final speech ;

Right to refuse to testify

According to § 108 Abs. 1 Zif. 2 StPO, defense lawyers are entitled to refuse to testify about what has become known to them in this capacity. This right may not be circumvented if it is otherwise null and void (including no questioning of the auxiliary staff, etc. See also Art. 15 para. 2 AOA).

Emergency defender

Selects the accused no defense counsel or his legal representative, it must, under certain circumstances, the court him a defender add (Notverteidiger = Not agile defender ). In accordance with Section 27 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the court usually appoints a lawyer. The court can also, unless a lawyer has to be appointed as defense counsel, appoint a legal trainee (trainee) at the regional court with a completed law degree as defense counsel.

Joint Defender

A joint defense attorney can be added to several accused or defendants at the same time in accordance with Section 27 (2) StPO. However, the latter is free, in the event “ that, after viewing the files and after having consulted the accused he is responsible for, the defense in the manner determined by the court is not appropriate, a larger number of defense counsel or another distribution of the To bring tasks in application . "

Defense attorney

Every accused or accused is free to appoint a defense attorney of his choice (Section 24 (1) first sentence of the Code of Criminal Procedure). The election defense attorney can take over this office, but does not have to. If he takes on this office, he has to fulfill the lege artis and is liable for non-fulfillment or poor fulfillment. According to Section 29 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the accused “can transfer the defense from the defense attorney chosen by himself to another at any time. The mandate of the officially appointed defense attorney also expires as soon as the accused appoints another defense attorney. In such cases, however, the change in the person of the defense counsel must not delay the proceedings . "

The appointment of a defense attorney always replaces the appointed public defender.

Defense attorney as authorized recipient

The defense attorney is automatically also an authorized recipient, unless otherwise stipulated in the law. The summons to the final hearing in the first instance, the judgment in absentia as well as notifications and notifications according to Sections 22c (4), 22d (1) and (4) and 22f (1) and (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure are always to be delivered to the accused or accused at their own expense (Section 37 Paragraph 4 StPO).

ruler

The ruler is fundamentally different from the defender. According to Section 325 (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a defendant who has not been arrested, if he does not want to appear in person before the regional court, can be represented by a defense attorney as a ruler at the hearing. In this case too, however, the court is entitled to request the accused to appear in person under threat of the planned coercive consequences. If the accused can be represented by a ruler, the accused takes the position of the accused in the main hearing.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The partiality of the defense attorney does not go so far that the defense attorney can become an accomplice of the accused (Section 24 (1) StPO).
  2. ↑ According to Section 24 (1b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the defense counsel's power of attorney must be proven in writing or, if the accused is present, by means of an oral declaration. In the absence of the accused, only a lawyer intervening as defense counsel can invoke a power of attorney granted to him (without having to present it).
  3. ↑ According to Section 24 (1a) StPO, he exercises the procedural rights to which the accused is entitled. However, the accused can always make statements himself; in the case of contradicting declarations, his applies.
  4. ↑ There are a number of other "defenders" in linguistic usage, especially in sport (e.g. a defender ) and in religion (e.g. the Fidei defensor - defender of faith).
  5. ↑ See also Johann Christoph Adelung for the meaning of the word in “ Grammatical-Critical Dictionary of High German Dialect ”, Vienna 1811 edition.
  6. ↑ During the formal examination of the accused by the examining magistrate, the prosecutor, the private party, the victim and the defender of the accused may not be present (Section 43 (2), Section 145 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).
  7. ↑ Lawyers Act, LGBl. No. 415/2013
  8. ↑ If the court has decided to appoint a lawyer, it must notify the board of the Liechtenstein Bar Association so that the latter can appoint a lawyer as defense counsel (Section 27 (1) StPO).