A/HRC/23/43 (c) Information on legal aid 57. Information on the right to legal aid and in what such aid consists, including the availability of legal aid services and how to gain access to them, constitutes an essential precondition for the effective exercise of this right. Such information should be made available to the general public through all appropriate means, including the media and the Internet, and should be accessible in any facility where persons are imprisoned or detained (such as in police stations, detention centres or prisons). Furthermore, police officers, prosecutors, lawyers and judges should inform unrepresented persons of their right to legal aid and other procedural safeguards. Foreign detainees and prisoners should be informed, in a language they understand, of their right to request contact with their consular authorities without delay.32 (d) National legal aid system: different options 58. The structure of legal aid models varies greatly, depending on their scope and funding, the type of justice systems they belong to and the area of jurisdiction where they function. Some of the most common models for the provision of legal aid are public defenders, private lawyers, contract lawyers, pro bono schemes, bar associations and paralegals. Although States have the primary obligation to provide legal aid services, a wide range of stakeholders may contribute to providing legal aid to those lacking the necessary financial means. 59. The Special Rapporteur is of the view that it is up to the individual State to identify the legal aid model that can maximize access to free legal aid for all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction, taking into account the specific characteristics of its justice system. 60. States employ different models for the provision of legal aid to those lacking the necessary financial resources. These models include the ones set out below. (i) State-run legal aid programmes 61. In some cases, legal aid programmes are established and administered solely by the State, constituting an exclusively public service. Legal aid is provided by independent and autonomous legal aid agencies or authorities that provide, administer, coordinate and monitor legal aid services. Under these schemes, lawyers operate as if they were civil servants paid by the State to provide free legal assistance. 62. State-run legal aid schemes, regardless of their administrative structure, should be free from undue political or judicial interference and be independent of Government in decision-making related to legal aid. They should also have the powers necessary to provide legal aid in, for example, the appointment of personnel and setting the criteria and accreditation of legal aid providers, and should develop, in consultation with key justice sector stakeholders and civil society organizations, a long-term strategy on legal aid. 63. Some States, particularly in Latin America, have established public defender‟s offices either as State institutions (namely, as part of the judiciary or the Ministry of Justice) or as functionally and financially autonomous entities. Whatever its organization and structure, public defenders‟ programmes should be autonomous and independent of the judiciary, the prosecutor‟s office and executive power. The Special Rapporteur considers that this kind of programme often constitutes one of the most effective ways of delivering legal aid, since public defenders have financial incentives to provide adequate, continuous 32 Ibid., guideline 2. 13