Prawo do ustanowienia obrońcy i pełnomocnika z urzędu dla cudzoziemca
The right to appoint a defense attorney and a court-appointed representative for a foreigner

Summary/Abstract: The refugee crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border related to the appearance on the border of a significant number of people who were brought to the territory of Belarus and then directed to the territory of Poland in an organized manner by Belarusian services led to a number of actions by, among others, Polish authorities, the legal aspects of which required urgent elaboration. This article addresses the issue of the right to appoint a defense attorney and a court-appointed representative for a foreigner. Some countries offer comprehensive legal assistance to foreigners. In our country, there is no comprehensive system of legal aid covering the various proceedings pending against and involving a foreigner. As a result, a foreigner demonstrating a need for legal aid or legal representation is forced to file multiple applications at different stages and for individual actions under different procedures. A foreigner may be in different procedural roles, which triggers the need to apply for free legal assistance on diverse legal grounds. Some proceedings contain gaps in access to legal aid, this is clearly evident in the case of administrative proceedings. While the law on granting international protection to foreigners provides for access to free legal aid, this only happens at the stage of appealing a negative decision.

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