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.
In the US it’s because our cops are incompetent and having a lawyer in the room makes it “too hard” to do an investigation.
In the US, the only answer you should ever give a cop without a lawyer present is “I don’t answer questions without a lawyer present.”
And when they lie to you and try to tell you that you have to answer… don’t believe them. They’re legally allowed to lie to you.