Facing
criminal charges is scary enough in your own country. Now imagine
being arrested and facing criminal charges in a court of law in
a foreign country. Imagine first being arrested by foreign police,
and then held in a jail far from your home and loved ones; then
imagine having to appear in a court of law where you don't understand
the language, culture, or the local customs.
Sound far fetched? Think again. As people travel ever more frequently
for employment, business, leisure and adventure, this scenario is
becoming a common one. In these international situations a whole
layer of complexity is added to the criminal matter, as a person
arrested and charged with a crime by a foreign court in a foreign
land.
Some of the legal issues immediately raised in these situations
are as follows:
- Can the person accused of the offense be released from jail
while the case is pending?
- If bail is required for his release from the foreign
jail, does the person have the right to bail?
- Can the accused person return to his home country while the
charges against him are being investigated and while his lawyers
mount his defense?
- Can the accused person's own government use its sovereign power
to intercede on his behalf?
- Does the foreign court even have the right to prosecute the
accused person since he is not a citizen of that country?
- How legitimate in the eyes of the world is the government sponsoring
the prosecuting court?
- Is it a democratic court with proper due process and procedural
safeguards, or is a court run by an internationally scorned, military
dictator?
- Provided the accused person gets the opportunity to return to
his home country, can the criminal case then be resolved without
him returning to the foreign country?
- Do any international treaties come into play?
The answers to all these questions, of course, vary from case
to case; but in all such cases these legal issues come
into play either before or along with the actual facts of the case.
Thus, whenever a person is accused of crime in a country other than
their own, an extra layer of legal issues arises on top of the already
complex matter of defending the accused person against the charges
leveled against them.
"In most of the situations, it is best for the client to
retain two attorneys. The first should be a criminal
defense attorney who practices within the country and jurisdiction
where the client was arrested and is facing charges. The second
should be a criminal defense attorney who is a citizen of the client's
home country" explains Attorney Dan Conaway.
"These two criminal defense attorneys should then work together,
regularly communicating with one another, towards the successful
resolution of the case."
So,
for example, if a foreign national from the Czech Republic is arrested
in Atlanta, Georgia, that client would certainly want both a lawyer
who routinely practices in Georgia courts and a second attorney
who is a citizen of and practices law in the Czech Republic. These
two attorneys would then coordinate the client's defense as a team
from "both sides of the ocean." Likewise, if a U.S. Citizen
from New York is arrested and charged with a crime in Brazil, they
would certainly want to retain both U.S. counsel as well as a Brazilian
lawyer who practices in the court where the client is facing charges.
Many times the first order of business is to get the client home
to the safety of his own country and family. Then, his two lawyers
can work together to defend against and refute the criminal charges
brought by the foreign court.
At Conaway & Strickler, P.C. we have a personal and professional
network of attorneys across the globe**. Through
our professional involvement in the International Bar Association,
we have established professional relationships with fellow criminal
defense attorneys throughout the world. Thus, regardless of where
you are arrested, we will be able to recommend local counsel to
you. These are attorneys who are among the top criminal defense
lawyers and legal experts within their own countries and jurisdictions.
At Conaway & Strickler, P.C. we also provide legal services
to the two (2) separate groups of clients who find themselves charged
with a crime in a country other than their own. We represent United
States citizens who are arrested and accused of a crime in a foreign
country; and we represent foreign nationals - citizens of nations
other than the US - who are arrested and charged with a crime here
in the United States. Regardless of whether our client is a U.S.
citizen charged with a crime in a foreign court, or our client is
a foreign national charged with a crime in a U.S. court, our goal
is the same: to get them out of the clutches of that foreign court's
power as quickly as possible, and to get the charges dismissed.
** We also have a complete network of top Criminal
Defense Attorneys throughout the United States through our involvement
with both the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and
the American Bar Association. If your case is not in a jurisdiction
in which our lawyers routinely practice, then we will be happy to
refer you to a fellow criminal
defense lawyer located in that part of the country where you
need help.
