Magistrate's Delayed Authorization of Defense Visit Violated Right to Counsel

The appellate court overturned a lower authority's rejection of a defense attorney's complaint alleging undue delay in obtaining permission to visit a detained suspect, even though the delay occurred during intensive police operations involving the investigating magistrate. The court reasoned that the magistrate's failure to respond to the request for a visit authorization within two working days and his subsequent unavailability constituted an unjustified delay of an official act, violating the suspect's constitutional right to unimpeded contact with defense counsel under relevant procedural law and the European Convention on Human Rights, a right that could not be substituted by a later, supervised telephone conversation.