Introduction
Since its foundation in 1997 the ECBA (European Criminal Bar Association) has become the pre-eminent independent organisation of specialist defence lawyers in all Council of Europe countries.
|
Two-year study on "Pre-trial Emergency Defence" confirms pre-trial legal advice is essential. Access to legal advice pre-trial is an essential element of the fair trial principle. On 12 July 2011 the European Commission adopted the proposal for a Directive on the right to access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings (see below) and on the right to communicate upon arrest, which is currently being discussed by the Council of the European Union, and the European Parliament. Based on a two years research programme, "Pre-trial Emergency Defence", confirms that such a measure is vital to ensure an individual’s rights are respected and upheld in criminal proceedings. Please read more in the Press Release (click here) the ECBA has published (12 April 2012) in relation to this measure and the new released book on "Pre-trial Emergency Defence", edited by Stefan Schumann, Karin Bruckmüller and Richard Soyer, providing conclusions and recommendations on how to improve pre-trial access to legal advice – by taking both legal and practical measures. European Commission adopts Draft Directive on the Right to have Access to a Lawyer The European Commission has adopted a proposal for a Directive on Measure C of the Roadmap. For the revised text from 9 March 2012 click here. This is a working document and a meeting is scheduled for the working group mid-April (tbc). JOINT STATEMENT OF NINE ORGANIZATIONS ON MEASURE C1 Please click here to find a joint statement (7 May 2012) addressing the Council of the European Union’s revised text of the Directive on the right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings and on the right to communicate upon arrest. This joint statement makes recommendations for amendments to the revised text, in order to ensure that any resulting Directive upholds the minimum human rights standards for fair trials. This statement has been sent to the Council of the European Union, and the Presidency This joint statement was prepared by the following nine civil society organizations: Open Society Justice Initiative
To read our Statement sent on 16 September 2011 to all Ministers of Justice of the EU Members States, the Permanent Representatives in Brussels and the Members of the Parliament click here. For the reply of the Minister of Justice of Romania, Mr. Predoiu click here. For the reply of the Ministry of Justice of Spain (only available in Spanish), click here. The draft Directive is available in English at The European Commission Impact assessment accompanying the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the rights of access to a lawyer and of notification of custody to a third person in criminal proceedings is now available at: Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings and on the right to communicate upon arrest - Note by Belgium / France / Ireland / the Netherlands / the United Kingdom - please click here to access the note. For the document regarding the state of play on Measure C from 21 October 2011 (2011/0154 (COD)) please click here Please click here for an open letter from 29 September 2011 regarding the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the rights of access to a lawyer and of notification of custody to a third person in criminal proceedings, which is jointly submitted by: Irish Council for Civil Liberties Joint letter in relation to Continued Assistance to the Roadmap for Procedural Rights in Criminal Proceedings Please find a letter from representatives of the Open Society Justice Initiative, Fair Trials International, Amnesty International, JUSTICE, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, and the European Criminal Bar Association. We have been writing jointly to offer our continued assistance to progress the Roadmap for strengthening procedural rights of suspected or accused persons in criminal proceedings. This letter has been sent (15 November 2011) to the EC Vice President Reding and in copy to the Director-General Justice, Francoise Le Bail and the Head of Unit, Procedural Criminal Law, Olivier Tell Strengthening mutual trust in the European judicial area – A Green Paper on the application of EU criminal justice legislation in the field of detention On 14 June the European Commission launched its consultation "Strengthening mutual trust in the European judicial area – A Green Paper on the application of EU criminal justice legislation in the field of detention". See the following: Please click here for the ECBA response as sent to the European Commission on 30 November 2011. EU Criminal Justice for Defence Counsel Please click here to find more information on the conferences regarding the joint project "Criminal defence in the context of European criminal justice and judicial cooperation in the EU" of the ECBA and ERA (Europäische Rechtsakademie) funded by the European Commission, in the framework of their “Criminal Justice Programme 2011”. National Bars and institutions connected to criminal defence are also partners to this project. This project will, for the first time, offer an EU wide training. While most training the projects of the last few years have been exclusively ad-dressed to judges and prosecutors, this project aims at closing the gap by offering training for defence lawyers in the EU Member States. The project will consist of six seminars conducted throughout the EU. Each of these six seminars will be targeted at different groups of selected member states which are geographically close to one another, where the need for cross-border co-operation is particularly important. For any further information please contact Prof. dr. Holger Matt by email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Money Laundering Report The ECBA has launched a new online reference tool on money laundering legislation in relation to the legal profession. This information can be viewed on this website, please click here. Collective membership The ECBA is delighted to work in partnership with organisations who share our aims and objectives. For more information about our collective members click here. |