Brussels, 07/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 8 June, the European Commission is expected to finalise its draft legislation to boost the rights of suspects and people accused of crimes. It will suggest introducing a new EU directive on suspects' rights to consult a lawyer from the first day when they are arrested. The Commission has already published draft legislation on translation of the rights set out in October 2010 in the infamous letter of rights to be provided everywhere in the EU whenever anyone is suspected or accused of a crime - a letter to be translated into a language and a format understandable to suspects and the accused. The Commission will be sticking to European Court of Human Rights case law for translation rights, explained EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding recently. The case law in question provides guarantees of law enshrined in the European Convention of Human Rights, whereby a detainee is entitled to access to a lawyer at appropriate times in the investigation/court proceedings.
Access to a lawyer from the first hour of arrest and before being locked up in prison is essential to ensure fair trials, argues the European Court of Human Rights, in the Danayan ruling in 2009, for example. The court laid down standards for the role of lawyers from arrest onwards, particularly the right to access the case against the arrested person - something which is not covered in many member state legal systems.
The draft legislation to be unveiled by the Commission on Wednesday will also cover the right of suspects and the accused to inform a third party of their arrest. Like provisions for access to a lawyer, here too there are huge differences among the 27 member states. In Belgium, for example, the presence of a lawyer is not required in the initial interrogation.
Many lawyers around Europe are eagerly awaiting the Commission's proposals, especially in France, where the Supreme Court recently threatened to declare illegal any arrests made after 15 April 2011 because no lawyer was present, which means that statements by suspects do not have legal standing. The French lawyers' association representatives in Brussels say that any attempt to harmonise practice in criminal justice would be very welcome and would certainly aid member states in abiding by European Court of Human Rights rules.
The Commission will be unveiling another highly awaited item of draft legislation shortly, on how the costs of having a lawyer present from the first hour of arrest will be financed.
The Commission initially hoped to cover this issue in a proposal unveiled on 8 June 2011, but later decided to introduce separate legislation to smooth the proceedings at the Council of Ministers. ( S.P./transl.fl)