Brussels, 29/08/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 29 August, the Commission adopted a proposal which could lead to persons suspected of committing crimes who reside in an EU Member State other than their own being returned to their home state rather than be remanded in custody before trial in another country. “By means of this proposal, the Commission aims to strengthen the right to liberty and the presumption of innocence, allowing non-resident EU citizens suspects to go back in a controlled way to their home Member States instead of being unnecessarily kept in pre-trial detention in another Member State,” said the Commissioner responsible for Freedom, Security and Justice Franco Frattini in a press release. This proposal for a Council framework decision would put an end to a situation which the Commission considers to be in breach of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights. The presumption of innocence is violated if every European citizen is not treated in the same way and if the free movement of persons is not is not guaranteed, said the Commissioner's spokesman Friso Roscam Abbing. This proposal, discussion of which Member States may begin in September, would allow alternatives to being remanded in custody for minor crimes to be applied abroad. Currently, and in the absence of mutual recognition of judicial decisions, alternative measures to remanding in custody, such as travel prohibition or reporting to police, cannot be applied in a Member State other than the one in which the suspect is resident. This type of measure will not apply to more serious crimes. The proposal could affect 8,000 European citizens, out of the 10,000 remanded in custody annually in another EU Member State, said Mr Roscam Abbing. Through this system, the judicial authorities in a Member State where the crime is committed could automatically transfer the suspect to his/her country of residence or apply alternative measures decided by the justice system of the country. This measure could not only help reduce the overcrowding in prisons, and thus reduce costs borne by penal authorities, but also reduce discrimination against non-resident suspects, concluded the spokesman.