Information for defendants

The defendant's defence counsel shall receive copies of all the case documents relating to his client as soon as possible. The defence counsel shall also be given the opportunity to consult other documents in the case.

The police may deny the defence counsel access to individual documents or other materials for up to three weeks from the time they were created or came into their possession if the police believe that the defence counsel's access to the materials could be detrimental to the investigation of the case. The police may also refuse to give the defence counsel copies of individual documents during the investigation of a case if they consider that this could prejudice the investigation of the case. Refusal of access to material may be referred to the judge.

When a defence counsel has gained access to the materials of a case, he may also provide his client with a copy of the materials or present them to him in another manner. The police should also give the defence counsel the opportunity to monitor the progress of the investigation to the extent possible.