Criminal lawyers defend cases by thoroughly investigating charges, challenging prosecution evidence, negotiating plea deals, protecting clients’ rights, and representing them in court with opening/closing statements, cross-examining witnesses, and presenting defence arguments to create reasonable doubt, aiming for acquittal or reduced charges/penalties.
In any legal system, criminal charges are the worst. Permanent police record, fines, and jail time are common penalties. At the climax, they can even result in life sentences. And in the face of such a calamity, a criminal lawyer is your best chance of a defence.
Hostile treatment, strict obligations, and complex procedures often become impossible to navigate. And facing the state attorney? You shouldn’t even consider it without a seasoned defender by your side.
If you are assuming a criminal charge and wondering whether consulting a lawyer is important or not, this article is for you. You will know:
What is a Criminal Defence Lawyer?
A criminal defence lawyer provides legal support to anyone facing a criminal charge. Generally, they are professionals well-versed in the federal code. From formal procedures to the nooks and corners of the legal lands, a defence lawyer assists the accused through the complex legislative funnel and strives to reach a satisfactory arrangement.
The Role of Criminal Defence Lawyers in Canada’s Justice System
If you are new to the legal trajectory, think of a defence lawyer as the person who will represent you and argue with the Crown counsel on your behalf.
In a detailed overview, a defence lawyer is the person you appoint to hear your side of the story, tell your motive, and strategize your way back to freedom. He will also guide you on attitude and considerations when presented plea bargain.
Above all, he is the person you put your trust in while preparing your case, evidence, and stand. To handle all such responsibilities, he must be someone with years of experience dedicated to learning and practicing the law and its many aspects.
Types of Criminal Defence Lawyers
Generally, a defence lawyer can be of three types:
- Public Defender: Provided by the government, a public defender is the last beacon of hope to an accused who can’t afford a private lawyer. A public defender is a part of almost all legal systems as a way to clear the burden of responsibility from the govt. side.
- Hired Professionals: It can be your family lawyer or anyone you hire personally to fight your case. While most of them charge a flat or block fee, often conditioned on a level of resolution, like meeting certain agreements in a plea bargain or a definite outcome. Some charge by hours, court sessions, and work on retainers.
- Contract Attorney: Lawyers working with contract-attorney organizations. Instead of paying the lawyer, you pay the organization. Such attorneys use the vast resources provided by the organization.
Criminal Lawyer vs Civil Lawyer: Key Differences
When searching for a lawyer, newbies can confuse themselves between a criminal lawyer and a civil lawyer. Undoubtedly, both are lawyers, only focused and specialized in different statutory bases. The criminal lawyer lives on the Criminal Acts, while a civil lawyer anchors on family procedures.
How do they differ? Here is a simple table to make a quick note:
| Lawyer (Type) | Ground | Opponent Party | Objective | Burden of Proof (When a Decision is Made) | Legal Aid (Paid by the Government) |
| Criminal | Breach in public safety | The Crown or the state | Liberty, Bail, Plea Bargain | Beyond a reasonable doubt | Available |
| Civil | Breach of personal rights | The plaintiff, one whose right is breached | Compensations, Mitigation, Settlements | Differences in the balance of probabilities | Rare |
What Does a Criminal Defence Lawyer Actually Do?
The context, work process, and responsibilities of a defence lawyer span a vast range. Here is a brief discussion:
Initial Client Consultation and Case Assessment
In the first meeting, a criminal lawyer expects a detailed narrative from you while looking for any breach of rights during the arrest and post-arrest treatment. He will also claim documents, records, and evidence that mark the case’s progress and help them realize the situation. He will also explain your rights and the next course of action.
Investigating the Case and Gathering Evidence
Once briefed, a defence lawyer sets out to investigate further into the case, visiting the spot, collecting evidence and clues, interviewing witnesses and relevant persons,
Negotiating with Crown Prosecutors
An agreement between the defence and the Crown prosecutors is often the last chance to avoid a trial. The bargain may happen over a Crown Pre-Trial session or a Resolution Discussion after the court hands over the disclosure. The defence lawyer draws attention to things like weak evidence, charter violation, and other mitigating factors and pursues the state lawyer to a fair deal.
Court Representation and Trial Advocacy
From disclosing their theory to a case, questioning witnesses, regulating the opponent party’s court approach, and dissecting evidence and implications, to concluding by asking for the rightful judgment, a defence lawyer puts matters in court into motion. He also mentors the client on their actions and speech in court.
Protecting Your Charter Rights Throughout the Process
One of the pivotal roles of a defence lawyer is to ensure that a client is not abused, threatened, or wrongly approached by any state uniform, and they are getting every rightful convenience and allowance.
Post-Conviction: Appeals and Sentence Reduction
For an apparent misconviction, defence lawyers can appeal for revision. Often comes as the last chance to change the fate of the client, an appeal can either challenge the guilt or the sentence.
Do Criminal Lawyers Defend Guilty People?
No punishment is justified until the crime is proven. The general phrasing “Innocent until proven guilty” lies at the heart of all criminal procedure. Refusing to defend an accused on presuming his guilt is like playing as a judge and convicting the person before a trial.
A convicted person’s need to get a fair chance in court can’t ever be ruled out. As there may still be a possibility to look at the case from a new perspective. Maybe no one has taken the medical, mental, emotional, or circumstantial conditions into account. While all of them lay valid grounds for further investigations and call for a renegotiation.
Types of Cases Criminal Lawyers Handle
There are hundreds of ways to meddle with public safety, and you can get a defence lawyer for all of them. Here are the case types a criminal lawyer can be expected to handle:
- Homicide: Cases that involve murders, including attempts and intentions.
- Impaired Driving (DUI): Allegations of driving a vehicle with a high percentage of alcohol in the blood
- White-Collar Crimes: Happen in corporate settings. While non-violent in intention, it can lead to costly compensation.
- Fraud: Deceptive practices to make a fool out of others for financial gains
- Domestic Violence: Charges that deal with improper behaviours and treatment that harm family members physically or mentally
- Sexual Offences: Any behaviour that feels forceful or harassing sexually
Apart from these, the Criminal Court also punishes theft, drug offences, and all types of assault.
Is Being a Criminal Lawyer Dangerous?
The profession of a criminal lawyer, beyond being dangerous, is highly stressful. First, you can’t deny the fact that there is a reason why the clients are facing the charge. Whether guilty or not, all of them are cornered and maybe in the worst situation of their lives. It unfolds into a wide range of challenges:
- Defending abusers, addicts, assaulters, thieves, and rapists takes an emotional and moral toll, especially when preparing strategies to mitigate their punishments. It gets worse upon realizing their true involvement.
- Crimes carried out as a team or gang work may put the lawyer into serious situations, like threats, blackmail, and even worse.
- Lawyers need to be highly sensitive and empathic, as more than legal support, they need to approach the accused in their vulnerable state, understand their fear or concern, and console them to sanity.
Skills and Qualities of Effective Criminal Lawyers
What may seem from the outside a highly procedural occupation, the work of a criminal lawyer demands more than academic scores. Consider
- Vetting through piles of records, searching for patterns and gaps in the opponent’s strategy, and assuming their next move requires a highly analytical mind.
- Coming up with a just response instantly in the face of turns and twists of the table and continuous offences from the opponent tests a lawyer’s intuition and wit.
- Narrating a case from various angles, hooking the panel of juries and the judge, convincing and persuading them toward a favourable point, is impossible without having solid communicative efficiency.
- Hustling through multiple cases, tracking progress and crucial deadlines of each, updating clients on them, while scavenging clues, is something only an emotionally stable and persistent person can pull off.
- Finally, no effort will come in help without a profound and confident knowledge of the active laws in navigating a case.
When Should You Hire a Criminal Lawyer in Regina?
To put it straight, hire a lawyer before opening your mouth to the police. In Canada, you can’t utter a syllable without being recorded by the police. Any slip of the tongue may be used against you in court by the Crown prosecutor.
So,
- Call a lawyer whenever summoned or interviewed by a police officer or an opponent’s associate
- Use your right to remain silent upon an arrest and hire a legal advisor before any hearing or interrogation
- Seek consultation in advance when assuming a charge, to get a temporal and competitive advantage
How to Choose the Right Criminal Lawyer in Saskatchewan
Among all charges, criminal convictions are the worst. The consequences are burdensome, throwing the accused into a life-or-death situation. The complications in the legal settings are also hazy, blocking every step of the defender with tougher challenges. So your choice of a lawyer will make all the difference if there is still a chance for it.
Before appointing a lawyer in Saskatchewan, make sure:
- A Reputed Track Record: A seasoned associate will leave a trail of successful cases, earning them fame and a reputation in their specialized industry
- Committed to their Niche: A serious lawyer will dedicate their time to a single legislative genre. You don’t want some generalists, a jack of all codes yet who masters none.
- Clean Payout Model: Every bend in the legal trajectory can cost you if you don’t settle your deal with your lawyer first. An ideal associate will offer you a solid contract where all costs are measured and shown, removing the chances of future disputes.
- Outcome-based Service: The approach of a confident lawyer is completely target-oriented. He will clarify what’s possible or not upfront, without manipulating you with unreal ambition.