Brussels, 29/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 28 May, the Irish Presidency of the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament reached agreement - at a further trialogue meeting - on the European Commission's proposal on access to a lawyer from the start of police questioning and throughout criminal proceedings. The directive presented by European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Viviane Reding in 2011 aims to give basic rights to people accused of crimes so that they can prepare their defence and be better informed about their rights wherever they are in the EU. The directive also enables them to inform their family, close friends or a third party quickly of their arrest.
The directive is based on two principles which have already been recognised by the European Court of Human Rights and by the Charter of Fundamental Rights. In particular, it provides for enough confidential meetings with a lawyer to allow suspects to exercise their rights to defence effectively, the Commission explains in a press release. The directive should enable the lawyer to play an “active role” during police questioning, and suspects should be able to be in contact with their country's consulate when they are abroad. The directive should also offer people subject to a European Arrest Warrant the possibility of receiving legal advice - both in the country where the arrest is carried out and in the one where the arrest warrant was issued - the Commission states.
This directive, which will be discussed at the justice ministers meeting in Luxembourg at the beginning of June, is part of the Commission's roadmap on procedural rights. This roadmap has already given rise to two other directives - on the right to information in criminal proceedings, and on the right to translation and interpretation. The roadmap - which guarantees the rights of suspects and the right to a fair trial - goes hand in hand with the proposals strengthening victims' rights.
Put forward on 8 June 2011, Reding's proposal on lawyers caused controversy in several member states at that time - particularly in France and the Netherlands, which considered that the directive could jeopardise the way investigations are carried out and could be exorbitantly expensive to implement. (SP/transl.fl)