were subject to sexual harassment by police officers. Such allegations illustrate the vulnerable position of women in police custody and the need to enforce safeguards to protect their dignity and personal security. While such claims presently remain mere allegations, the trends and patterns in the complaints against conduct of police from around the country, specifically the element of violence inherent in arrest and detention procedures, cannot be ignored and requires serious investigation. Confessions obtained under duress are likely to distort the functions of the criminal justice process and incarceration, and render it inefficient in the prevention of crime. There is also a need for prisoners to be able to lodge complaints against the police and be provided information on the progress of the investigation of their allegations, while they are being held in prison. 22. Access to Legal Representation The Commission observed that the lack of access to effective legal representation was a grievance of persons from impoverished backgrounds who struggled to pay legal fees and have had to resort to selling their assets and compromising their livelihood, to do so. Where such persons do not have adequate literacy and cannot follow legal proceedings, they are not able to hold their lawyers accountable. Their bargaining power is reduced and as a result, such individuals become vulnerable to unscrupulous lawyers. The Commission also came across persons who could no longer afford legal fees during a prolonged criminal trial, which can continue for up to twenty years in the Sri Lankan judicial system, and thus became reliant on state assigned counsel. There exists a general perception that state assigned counsel do not undertake their duties with diligence – they do not visit the prison to inquire with a remandee, and hardly speak to the inmate for even a few minutes before the hearing is due to commence. This raises questions about their ability to prepare a vigorous defence following virtually non-existent communication with the defendant. This is perhaps a reason many prisoners complained that their lawyers did not stand up or speak up in court, or cross examine witnesses. Since the quality of legal representation impacts the sentence awarded to the defendant, this may result in persons from lower socio-economic backgrounds receiving harsher sentences due to their financial status rather than culpability, which undermines the integrity and purpose of the criminal justice system. The attendance of lawyers and state counsel in court directly correlates to the length of the trial; when lawyers are absent, the case has to be postponed to another date. In appeal cases, the next date could be after six to twelve months, the duration of which has to be spent in prison by the appellant. Non-attendance at trials is particularly adverse for defendants who raise the money to pay lawyers’ fees with much difficulty. It must also be pointed out that the transfer of an inmate to court places a hefty burden on the understaffed prison department as well as the taxpayer, requiring a number of escorting officers and prison buses, which sometimes have to travel long distances when a prisoner is tried in a court out of town. When individuals are transferred to court only to find their lawyer or the state counsel is not in attendance, it results in the waste of public resources. xxix