Ensuring that any accused person has effective and early access to a lawyer serves a number of important functions, such as safeguarding against abuse and mistreatment, contributing to the prevention of miscarriages of justice, and protecting a suspect’s human rights, including their privilege against self-incrimination (all of which, incidentally, the court recognises at [125]–[128]). The question for the Strasbourg court in this case was at what point, for the purposes of art.6, this right must be provided.