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 Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, Committee of the European Parliament European Commission, DG Justice.
This joint statement was prepared by the following nine civil society organizations:
Open Society Justice Initiative
European Criminal Bar Association
Fair Trials International
Justice
Irish Council for Civil Liberties
Hungarian Helsinki Committee
Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights in Poland
Greek Helsinki Monitor
Human Rights Monitoring Institute, Lithuania
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.
For the revised text from 9 March 2012 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
JUSTICE
Fair Trials International
Open Society Justice Initiative
Amnesty International, European Institutions Office
European Criminal Bar Association
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.
Click here for the RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL of 30 November 2009 on a Roadmap for strengthening procedural rights of suspected or accused persons in criminal proceedings
(Text with EEA relevance) (2009/C 295/01)
