Law and Rights
Under the Stockholm Programme - agreed in December 2009 - the influence of the EU in criminal matters will increase markedly over the years 2010 - 2014. See the Stockholm Agreement and the Action Plan. This is a very far-reaching legislative programme as even a brief glance at the Tables in the Action Plan will reveal.
Following on from the Action Plan, the EU has issued a draft directive on the Right to information in criminal proceedings. This will establish minimum rights across the EU for those suspected of having committed an offence or for those charged. The minimum rights will include: written information about rights on arrest; written information about rights in the European Arrest Warrant process; information about the charge and access to the case file. A further initiative is a proposed directive on Translation and Interpretation Rights.
Areas where further EU action will be taken are: Legal Advice and Legal Aid; Communication with Relatives, Employers and Consular Authorities; Special Safeguards for suspected or accused persons who are vulnerable and a Green paper of Pre-Trial Detention - see Road Map 2009.
It remains to be seen to what extent the U.K. government actually adopts many of these initiatives. For example, will the government be keen to restore legal aid in Magistrates' Courts which has, in the last few years, been scaled back considerably. Assuming that it does adopt some or all of them, it should not be assumed that everything in the English Law garden is rosy. Some changes will be required if English Law is to comply fully with some of the proposals.
It is also interesting that the draconian European Arrest Warrant came first and that efforts to achieve minimal procedural rights have come later. Cart before the horse?
Other EU Law posts:
European Arrest Warrant ....... Ever Expanding Influence 1 ...... Ever Expanding Influence 2
- Is The Eu Coming To Save Legal Aid, Or To Bury It? An Assessment Of Negotiations On The Proposed Directive
by Claire Perinaud (FREE Group Trainee) For many people facing criminal charges, legal aid is essential if they wish to defend themselves effectively. The EU is planning to adopt legislation on this issue in the near future. But will it actually...
- Assange - European Arrest Warrants
Judgment has been handed down in Assange v Swedish Prosecution Authority [2011] EWHC 2849 (Admin) - President of the Queens Bench Division (Sir John Thomas) and Ouseley J. It is interesting, for reasons which will become apparent, that the respondent...
- Detention Without Charge
Within England and Wales, the detention for questioning by the Police of arrested suspects is subject to certain time limits and these are set out in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 - PACE. The powers of "Police Constables" to arrest without...
- Under The Radar: The Stockholm Plan For Justice
What has hardly been seen but is sneaking in under the radar of the British general Election? British politicians have said little about it and there has been no worthwhile presentation to the British people. The answer is the highly ambitious...
- The European Arrest Warrant - An Arrested Development.
Enjoy your holiday or business trip but be careful what you do when abroad in other EU countries. Step out of line and you could find a European Arrest Warrant following you back home and whisking you off for a stay in a not so nice foreign prison and...
Law and Rights
The ever expanding influence of the EU in criminal matters - No. 3
Following on from the Action Plan, the EU has issued a draft directive on the Right to information in criminal proceedings. This will establish minimum rights across the EU for those suspected of having committed an offence or for those charged. The minimum rights will include: written information about rights on arrest; written information about rights in the European Arrest Warrant process; information about the charge and access to the case file. A further initiative is a proposed directive on Translation and Interpretation Rights.
Areas where further EU action will be taken are: Legal Advice and Legal Aid; Communication with Relatives, Employers and Consular Authorities; Special Safeguards for suspected or accused persons who are vulnerable and a Green paper of Pre-Trial Detention - see Road Map 2009.
It remains to be seen to what extent the U.K. government actually adopts many of these initiatives. For example, will the government be keen to restore legal aid in Magistrates' Courts which has, in the last few years, been scaled back considerably. Assuming that it does adopt some or all of them, it should not be assumed that everything in the English Law garden is rosy. Some changes will be required if English Law is to comply fully with some of the proposals.
It is also interesting that the draconian European Arrest Warrant came first and that efforts to achieve minimal procedural rights have come later. Cart before the horse?
Other EU Law posts:
European Arrest Warrant ....... Ever Expanding Influence 1 ...... Ever Expanding Influence 2
- Is The Eu Coming To Save Legal Aid, Or To Bury It? An Assessment Of Negotiations On The Proposed Directive
by Claire Perinaud (FREE Group Trainee) For many people facing criminal charges, legal aid is essential if they wish to defend themselves effectively. The EU is planning to adopt legislation on this issue in the near future. But will it actually...
- Assange - European Arrest Warrants
Judgment has been handed down in Assange v Swedish Prosecution Authority [2011] EWHC 2849 (Admin) - President of the Queens Bench Division (Sir John Thomas) and Ouseley J. It is interesting, for reasons which will become apparent, that the respondent...
- Detention Without Charge
Within England and Wales, the detention for questioning by the Police of arrested suspects is subject to certain time limits and these are set out in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 - PACE. The powers of "Police Constables" to arrest without...
- Under The Radar: The Stockholm Plan For Justice
What has hardly been seen but is sneaking in under the radar of the British general Election? British politicians have said little about it and there has been no worthwhile presentation to the British people. The answer is the highly ambitious...
- The European Arrest Warrant - An Arrested Development.
Enjoy your holiday or business trip but be careful what you do when abroad in other EU countries. Step out of line and you could find a European Arrest Warrant following you back home and whisking you off for a stay in a not so nice foreign prison and...