Michał Surówka
advocate
SURÓWKA Law Firm
Police Interrogation with a Lawyer – Should a Witness Have a Lawyer Present?
It is worth emphasizing that this article is of a general nature. For an individual consultation, please contact Attorney Michał Surówka directly at +48883921775 or via email at adwokat.m.surowka@kancelariasurowka.pl. The law firm is based in Krakow (Cracow), Poland but provides services throughout the entire country.
A police interrogation with a lawyer is commonly associated with a situation where the individual receiving legal assistance is suspected of committing a crime. However, this is not the only case in which the help of such a professional proves to be extremely valuable. Can one decide to seek legal assistance when summoned to appear at a police station or prosecutor’s office as a witness? This is a significant and pressing issue for many clients, which certainly deserves a detailed discussion.
In the rest of this article, I will explain, among other things, whether a witness has the right to seek the assistance of a lawyer during an interrogation, what role such a representative should play, and whether a defendant being interrogated as a witness in the case of another defendant can have a lawyer present.
Can a Witness Be Accompanied by a Lawyer During Interrogation? When Can a Witness Appoint a Legal Representative?
Is it possible for a witness to be interrogated with the assistance of a lawyer? Before I answer this question, I must draw attention to an important issue that needs to be kept in mind. In a situation where we receive a summons to appear, either at a police station or at the prosecutor’s office, as a witness, or – in violation of the regulations – when the summons does not specify the capacity in which we are being called, it is essential to seriously consider whether the case might only involve our knowledge of someone’s potential actions or if it is likely that the case could involve our own actions or omissions directly.
If we have even the slightest suspicion that law enforcement might subsequently turn their attention directly toward us, we should strongly consider attending the interrogation with a lawyer. When can a police interrogation with a lawyer take place? According to Article 87 § 2 of the Criminal Procedure Code, a witness can also appoint a representative in the form of a lawyer, provided that their interests in the ongoing proceedings require it. The appointed lawyer should attend the interrogation and appropriately justify their participation, so that the prosecutor or police officer does not challenge their presence. If the denial of the lawyer’s participation as the witness’s representative occurs, an appeal can be lodged based on Article 302 § 1 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
This is an important matter because when testifying as a witness, we bear criminal responsibility for our statements. For this reason, witness summonses are often abused.
Law enforcement uses this method to gain access to information they find valuable by interrogating a person as a witness, and later, although not necessarily immediately, they may charge that person. Had law enforcement instead summoned the person as a suspect, they would have the right to refuse to make a statement without providing a reason. This is why prosecutors and police sometimes summon individuals as witnesses when, in fact, they should have been summoned as suspects (with the full range of rights available to those being interrogated). The answer to the question of whether a witness should have a lawyer at their interrogation is, therefore: yes, if their interests require such a solution.
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Can a Witness Refuse to Testify? The Presence of a Lawyer During a Witness’s Interrogation and Their Role as a Representative.
An important argument in the discussion about whether a witness should have a lawyer at an interrogation at a police station or prosecutor’s office is the knowledge and experience of the potential lawyer hired. This expertise can prove invaluable for a witness in a criminal case, especially during the first interrogation. The role of the lawyer acting as the witness’s representative is to ensure that the witness is properly informed about their rights and to advise them, taking into account the specifics of the case, whether they should exercise any of these rights (for example, the right to refuse to testify in a case concerning someone close to them).
However, in a situation where we anticipate that the case may directly concern us and may soon turn against us, the lawyer’s role is to ensure that the witness, during the interrogation, at the appropriate moment, exercises their right to refuse to answer a specific question, justifying that answering it may expose them or someone close to them to liability for a crime or fiscal crime.
This is important because a person being interrogated, without knowledge of criminal law (even if they are a lawyer), may struggle to distinguish a neutral question from one to which an answer could, in the future, expose them to what might be considered “trouble”. This is where the reflexes of the lawyer and their knowledge of the regulations and law enforcement practices come into play. In this way, the presence of a lawyer during the interrogation allows the witness to avoid stating something that could cause problems later on.
It is a fact that if a person is interrogated as a witness and then the same person is charged in the same case, their testimony given as a witness cannot be read or considered by the court in any way. However, procedural rights of the accused differ from the reality of the situation. The testimony given as a witness remains in the case files, and the stories told there, careless answers (even seemingly harmless ones) may negatively affect the court’s perception of that person, leading the court to have no doubts about the guilt of the accused, who was previously interrogated as a witness, and resulting in a conviction, whereas, without reading the accused’s testimony previously given as a witness, they might have been acquitted.
For this reason, it is crucial that testimony given as a witness potentially facing charges is carefully considered from the outset. The best way to achieve this goal is to have the interrogation conducted with a lawyer specializing in the relevant field of law.
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The Accused Being Interrogated as a Witness in the Case of Another Accused – Is Legal Assistance Possible?
It is common for a situation to arise in a criminal case where there are at least two co-accused individuals (for example, for committing robbery in complicity, i.e., jointly and in agreement by at least two persons), but for various reasons, one of them is removed from the proceedings and assigned to a separate case.
In such a case, one of the accused may be called to testify in the case of the other accused in this separate proceeding. As a result, the person will only be a witness in the case of the other accused, which is a classic situation where such a witness, who is also an accused, may indeed appear in court with a lawyer acting as their representative. This is particularly important because such a witness-accused has the right to refuse to testify, and their previous statements made as a witness in their own case cannot be read or considered in any way.
Having a lawyer present during the interrogation of a witness as their representative is the optimal solution in many situations. To protect their interests, a person called as a witness should seek the support of a qualified lawyer. As SURÓWKA Law Office, we offer our clients professional legal assistance provided by dedicated specialists. By choosing our services from the advocate Krakow area, clients ensure expert support both during the witness interrogation and before and after the interrogation.
The high level of expertise in our team stems from the fact that we are a law office with three specific areas of specialization, in which we constantly expand our knowledge and skills. SURÓWKA Law Office offers services in the following areas:
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