EU TAKES FURTHER STEP TO PROTECT FAIR TRIAL RIGHTS

November 16 2011

The Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Council of the European Union has approved a Directive to ensure everyone arrested in any EU country gets key information about basic legal rights and the charges against them. This is the second in a series of measures under the “procedural rights Roadmap”, proposed by the EU in July 2009 to ensure stronger protection of the right to a fair trial across Europe. The first measure guaranteed the right to interpreting and translation facilities for those needing them and was passed in June 2010. The third measure, on access to legal advice and the right to notify others of arrest, was proposed in June 2011 by the European Commission and will now be negotiated by MEPs and EU justice ministers.

Catherine Heard, Fair Trials International’s Head of Policy, said:

“This is another big step forward in the protection of fair trial rights. If you do not understand your rights when arrested – rights like access to a lawyer or an interpreter – or you are deprived of information about the case against you, a fair trial is impossible. This new law will help ensure EU countries deliver justice to a higher, more consistent standard, building a firmer foundation for EU cooperation in the fight against crime.”

Our work on cases across the EU– cases like that of Garry Mann, extradited to Portugal after a grossly unfair trial – illustrates the serious risk of injustice that arises when people are not given early access to basic information about their legal rights or the charges against them. For years, EU justice policy has focused on greater cooperation between prosecution authorities. The European Commission has estimated that there are over 8 million criminal proceedings in the EU every year. The extent to which suspects are informed of their rights when arrested depends entirely on which EU country they happen to be in. In some countries, suspects only receive oral information about their rights, in others, written information is not given unless requested, and in some countries people can be detained before trial for years before they even receive information about the case against them or access to the prosecution file. This makes effective trial preparation impossible.

For more information please contact Fair Trials International on +44 (0)20 7822 2370 or +44 (0)7950 849 851

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Notes to editors

Key elements of the new proposed right: The Directive will ensure that police and prosecutors give suspects clear, written information about their rights. Suspects will receive a Letter of Rights on arrest, translated into their own language where necessary. The Letter of Rights will contain simple, practical information about the suspect’s rights:

• to a lawyer;
• to be informed of the charge and, when appropriate, to have access to the case-file;
• to interpretation and translation facilities, for those who do not understand the language of the proceedings;
• to be brought promptly before a court following arrest.

To see FTI’s briefing on why this law is needed, click here.

Defence rights - why the EU must protect them: The right to a fair trial and defence are set out in Articles 47 and 48 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and in Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Under Article 82(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the EU can adopt measures to strengthen the rights of EU citizens, in line with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, and to facilitate the mutual recognition of judicial decisions and improve police and judicial cooperation on criminal matters having a cross border nature. European Member States today cooperate more than ever before in justice matters. This means they must be able to trust in the fairness of each other’s justice systems; equally, people facing charges in Europe must be confident they will be treated fairly, wherever they are charged. This is, unfortunately, a long way from reality. For trust to be established, basic defence rights must be guaranteed by the legal systems of every single Member State and be enforceable by nationals and non-nationals alike. Previous attempts to create these safeguards failed in 2007 when 6 countries (including the UK, Ireland and Poland) vetoed a Commission proposal. 

Other defence rights under the Stockholm Programme: The “Stockholm Programme” is the five year legislative programme for EU justice and home affairs, adopted in December 2009. It provides the basis for EU legislation on justice matters between 2010 and 2014. The first defence measure – the Directive on Interpretation and Translation – was adopted on 16 June 2010. In June 2011, the Commission put forward a third measure, to guarantee access to a lawyer and to communicate with relatives (IP/11/689). The proposal is currently under discussion in Parliament and Council. Further laws are expected, covering: the right to legal aid; special safeguards for vulnerable suspects; and reform of pre-trial detention practices. To read our briefings and case studies showing why Europe must act to protect these rights, click here.

The Directive on Interpretation and Translation: This Directive requires all States to implement legislation by July 2013 to ensure that suspected or accused persons who do not understand or speak the language of the criminal proceedings are given interpretation facilities during all police questioning and court hearings. They should also be given written translations of documents that are essential to their defence, including decisions depriving them of liberty, the indictment and the judgment.

The European Arrest Warrant: In 2002 the EU created this fast-track system for surrendering people to one country to another to face trial or serve a prison sentence. It was rushed in as part of the EU’s response to the terrorist threat and was meant to help tackle serious cross-border crime more effectively. It has removed all political discretion in extradition decisions, done away with the traditional legal barriers to extradition and made transfers much quicker. It has already been used to transfer thousands of individuals, for example, Garry Mann (below). For more information on FTI’s work on the European Arrest Warrant, click here.

Garry Mann: Garry was arrested, tried and convicted, all in the space of 48 hours, following disturbances at the Euro 2004 football championships in Portugal. He has always maintained he was elsewhere with friends during the disturbances, but he had no chance to call them as witnesses. He was unaware that Portuguese law provided for a 1 month “stay” of proceedings to prepare a defence. Nor did Garry know what offence he was charged with until he looked over the shoulder of the court interpreter, 20 minutes before the end of the trial, and saw the words “leading a riot”. Despite a British judge labeling his original trial “unfair” there were no grounds to refuse extradition. Garry was extradited in May 2010, later transferred to the UK to complete his sentence, and finally released from prison in August 2011. For more information on Garry’s case, click here.

Fair Trials International’s Justice in Europe campaign: We have long campaigned for legislation at EU level on basic defence rights, because it is the only way to require Member States to deliver on their fair trial obligations, both to nationals and non-nationals. We use the real-life experiences of the people we assist to show the need for these measures. For more information on our Justice in Europe campaign, click here.