- Available for Confidential Consultations
People often assume a solicitor at a Garda station is there to make a speech or to argue the case. That is not what happens, and the gap between what people expect and what actually occurs causes real harm, because someone who does not understand the role is more likely to decline it.
Here is what the job actually involves.
The first task is finding out what is going on. Your solicitor will establish from the Gardaí what the allegation is, under what statutory power you are being detained, and how long that detention can lawfully run.
You then get a private consultation. This is where the real work happens. You explain what you know, and you receive advice on what is being alleged, what the Gardaí appear to have, and what your options are for the interview that follows.
This consultation is confidential.
Your solicitor sits with you throughout. The role in the room is narrower than people expect, and more important than it looks:
That written record matters later. Interviews are recorded, but a contemporaneous note from someone who was in the room, watching how a question was put and how the tone changed, is a different and useful thing when the case is being prepared.
You are not obliged to answer questions.
That said, the position in Ireland is more nuanced than a simple right to silence. In certain defined circumstances a court may be permitted to draw an inference from a failure to mention something during questioning that you later rely on. Whether those circumstances apply depends on the offence, on whether the required formal warning was given, and on exactly how it was given.
This is the single strongest reason to take advice before the interview rather than after it. The decision is not "say nothing" or "explain everything". It is a judgement that depends on the specific allegation and on what the Gardaí have put to you, and it is not one to make alone in a custody suite.
Ask immediately. You do not have to give a reason, and asking is not an indication of anything.
You can name a solicitor, or ask that one be contacted for you. You can also ask part way through an interview that has already started. Questioning should not continue until you have had the opportunity to take that advice.
Not everyone who is interviewed has been arrested. People are frequently asked to attend a station voluntarily to "give their side of things".
A voluntary interview is still an interview, and what is said in it can be used in evidence in exactly the same way. Attending voluntarily does not mean you have to answer questions without a solicitor present. Take advice before you go.
At the end of the detention period you may be released without charge, released pending a file going to the Director of Public Prosecutions, or charged and brought before the District Court.
Release without charge is not the same as the matter being closed. Files often go to the Director of Public Prosecutions months later. If you have been interviewed, keep the details of what was asked, and keep your solicitor's details.
We act for people accused of sexual offences, including at the Garda station stage. Enquiries are handled discreetly.
A solicitor advises you privately before questioning begins, attends the interview with you, intervenes if a question is improper or the questioning becomes oppressive, and keeps a record of what was asked and answered.
You are not obliged to answer questions. In certain defined circumstances a court may be permitted to draw an inference from a failure to mention something during questioning, so the decision on whether to answer should be taken with a solicitor who knows the allegation.
Yes. You can ask at any point, including part way through an interview. Questioning should not continue until you have had the opportunity to take that advice.
