Tiny cells, violence and language barriers: the life of a European prisoner?

UK Human Rights Blog -Isabel McArdle

The European Commission has begun a consultation process to explore the impact of pre-trial detention in the European Union (EU). The particular focus, summarised in its Green Paper, is how pre-trial detention issues affect judicial co-operation generally within the EU.

The issue is being debated at the moment in the UK, with a group of MPs urging an overhaul to international extradition rules. The Joint Committee on Human Rights has published its report on The Human Rights implications of UK extradition policy, in which it concludes that the current statutory framework does not provide effective protection for human rights.

Catherine Heard, Head of Policy at Fair Trials International, a human rights charity which helps people facing trial in a country which is not their own, said:

"At Fair Trials International we’re regularly contacted by people who have spent months or even years in prison awaiting trial in another EU country. It’s common for people to be held in appalling prison conditions, without access to a lawyer or an interpreter, making trial preparation impossible. This consultation is a sign that the EU has woken up to this scandalous situation and realised it needs to take action or risk further damage to the ‘mutual recognition’ concept on which the European Arrest Warrant is based."