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.

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You will find more information regarding the conference on our conference page.


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


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.
The ECBA welcomes the European Commission’s proposal to guarantee suspects’ rights to speak with a lawyer and to inform others of their arrest, however they urge the Member States to also consider the need for guarantees of legal aid for those who are not able to pay for legal assistance.
To read our Press Release, please click here.

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
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/policies/criminal/procedural/docs/com_2011_326_en.pdf

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:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=SEC:2011:0686:FIN:EN:PDF.

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 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
JUSTICE
Fair Trials International
Open Society Justice Initiative
Amnesty International, European Institutions Office
European Criminal Bar Association


Draft Directive on Victim’s Rights

In May 2011, the European Commission sent a proposal for a “Directive establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime” to the European Parliament for consideration.

The document (COD/2011/0129) can be found here.

The ECBA has issued a statement in relation to this directive. Click here for this statement.

For the reply of the Ministry of Justice of Austria, click here and for the reply of the Ministry of Justice of Hungary here.

For the reply of the European Commission Vice-President Viviane Reding, click here.


 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:
• "Green Paper" consultation http://ec.europa.eu/justice/policies/criminal/procedural/docs/com_2011_327_en.pdf
• European Commission press release "European Commission seeks views on detention in the EU area of justice. Click here for the Press Release.  

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.