Brussels, 07/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission wants to seize the initiative again in the debate surrounding the imposition of common minimum standards for protecting the rights of suspected criminals under investigation. A relatively brief initial consultation document has been published and a Communication is expected at the beginning of June. The aim is for a legislative proposal to be produced in the medium term, the Commissioner for Justice, Antonio Vitorino, explained to the European Parliament on Wednesday. He made the announcement in the middle of the debate on the European arrest warrant and the framework decision on terrorism, as various MEPs were criticising the fact that the European Union is getting more instruments of repression to enable borders to be crossed and suspects sent for judgement to another Member State but without any accompanying basic common rules to guarantee procedures and the rights of the accused (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.12). Differences in procedures were discussed by MEPs at length and the question regularly arises in any discussion on judicial co-operation. For this reason, the Commission is proposing to establish common rules and above all, to bring together EU and international legislation in a single instrument and insists it be applied in order to demonstrate that there is common ground for having full confidence in co-operation. Member States will have to be convinced of the need for EU legislation in this connection and it remains to be seen what lowest common denominator will be arrived at.
The aim set out by the Commission in its "consultation paper" is to open discussion not only on the rights coming under these minimum norms throughout criminal proceedings (from the time when a person becomes a suspect, throughout the investigation, the trial and the aftermath of the trial: detention, sanctions, appeal), but also on the level of such norms and on the way to ensure they are respected. The consultation paper briefly notes the obligations of Member States to preserve the rights of the accused under international and European rules, and sketches out several avenues of reflection, in a "non-exhaustive" list of rights. The Commission stresses that it is necessary to inform the suspect of his or her rights (perhaps by a "letter of rights" given to each suspect upon arrival at the police station or before questioning), with specific attention to "vulnerable" persons (minors, foreigners, etc.). The Commission proposes in just a few words to examine and discuss the way in which Member States apply the rule of presumed innocence, the extent and limits of the right for a person arrested to inform a member of the family, the point of the procedure when the person arrested is entitled to a lawyer, production of proof, the right to make an appeal, the right for a foreigner to have an interpreter and translations available, etc. Persons interested are invited to make their opinion known by 15 April (caroline.morgan@cec.eu.int or DG JHA, 46 rue du Luxembourg, 1000 Brussels).
The Commission hopes that the debate will begin with the standards to attain, without polemics or value judgements on the differences in practices in Member states. Whence, the document stresses that the rules in force are often imperfectly respected, but provides no details on the procedures and practices in each country, nor does it announce a comprehensive comparative study. It is "more constructive to define standards that one intends seeing respected by Member States than examining the existing rules to underpin shortcomings in current practices", one reads in the consultation paper.