October 2016

Did you Know?

The EU is working towards achieving common minimum standards of procedural rights in criminal proceedings to ensure that the basic rights of suspects and accused persons are protected sufficiently.

EDC News: Rights of Suspects and Accused in the EU

Across the EU every year, 9 million people face criminal proceedings. Case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) shows that violations of defence rights, as set out in Articles 5 and 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) do occur. As such, the EU rules set common rights and minimum standards for all criminal proceedings, whether one is accused or suspected in their home country or elsewhere in the EU. The following directives developed or being developed by the EU sets out the rights that EU citizens benefit or will benefit from under EU legislation:

• the right to interpretation and translation (since October 2013), Directive Dir/2010/64/EU

• the right to information (since June 2014), Directive DIR/2012/13/EU

• the right to have a lawyer (as of 27 November 2016), Directive DIR/2013/48/EU

• the right to be presumed innocent (as of April 2018)

• rights as a child (as of 11 June 2019)

• the right to legal aid (as of May 2019)

For more information:

• Criminal law policy

• Strengthening victims' rights in the EU – Directive 2012/29/EU establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime, thereby ensuring they are recognised, treated with respect and receive proper protection, support and access to justice.

• European Convention on Human Rights

• Commission Staff Working Document Impact Assessment: Accompanying the Proposal for Measures on Legal Aid for Suspects or Accused Persons in Criminal Proceedings - SWD/2013/0476 final

• Eurostat data – Crime and Criminal Justice, illustrated statistics

• Eurostat database - Suspects and offenders by citizenship

• Euro statistics reports (in 22 languages):

  • Crime and criminal justice statistics

  • Crime statistics

  • Crime trends in detail

• Related documents