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
| DOI | 10.1177/203228441100200304 |
| Date | 01 September 2011 |
| Published date | 01 September 2011 |
| Subject Matter | Dedicated Section |
New Journal of Eur opean Crimina l Law, Vol. 2, Issue 3, 2011 263
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
29 September 2011
Kenneth Clarke QC MP, Lord Chancellor a nd Secretary of State for Just ice (England
and Wales)
I.W. Opstelten, Minister of Secu rity and Justice (e Netherlands)
Alan Shatter TD, Min ister for Justice, Equality and Defence (Ireland)
Stefaan De Clerck, Mini stre de la Justice (Belgium)
Michel Mercier, Garde des Sceaux, Minist re de la Justice et des Libertés (France)
Dear Ministers ,
When the Swedish Presidency Road map on procedural rights (“the Roadm ap”) was
approved by the European Council in Dec ember 2010, our organisations welcomed it
as a means by which enforceable Europe-wide defence standa rds could be improved.
We did so based on our collective expert ise and experience in providing legal services
to and advocating on behalf of people across Europe who experience the eec ts of the
current ar rangements under which lega l rights var y across borders and information
on rights can be di cult to access.
e stated intention of the Roadmap is ‘to expand exi sting standards’ including
those to be found in the European Convention on Huma n Rights (ECHR) and ot her
relevant regional and global instr uments and ‘to make their application more
uniform’.
e action subsequently taken by the European Commission to translate the
Roadmap into practice has a double purpose, both to create condence in the common
European justice space in the interests of combating criminal ity and to protect citizens
of one Member State who nd themselves facing cri minal proceedings in another.
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