Shouldn’t it be the default and not require the suspect/subject to actually ask for one? Has there ever been any attempt to make that the norm in any countries? I think the only question should be “do you have your own lawyer you like to use, or are you happy enough with the court-appointed one?”
I’m not even sure opting out should be allowed, but I’m open to hearing reasons why that would be a bad system, or indeed a worse system than the one most countries seem to have now. So many miscarriages of justice could have been easily avoided.
Came here to say this. There’s even been movements like you find in the book Rebooting Justice to try and essentially digitize menial legal matters so that lawyers just have to put the finishing touches on them. I wonder how involved AI will get in the next 5-10 years.
Also 2nd the point on choosing not to exercise certain rights. You have the right to free speech but you may not feel like talking, etc