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

This proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and the Council aims to set common minimum standards on the rights of suspects and accused persons in criminal proceedings throughout the European Union to have access to a lawyer and to communicate upon arrest with a third person, such as a relative, employer or consular authority.

The proposal is the next step in the series of measures laid down in the Resolution of the Council of 30 November 2009 on a Roadmap for strengthening procedural rights of suspects and accused persons in criminal proceedings, appended to the Stockholm Programme approved by the European Council of 10-11 December 2010.

The Roadmap invites the Commission to put forward proposals on a ‘step-by-step’ basis. This proposal should therefore be considered as part of a comprehensive package of legislation to be presented over the next few years, which will provide a minimum set of procedural rights in criminal proceedings in the European Union.

European Commission: SEC(2011)687: Summary of the impact assessment http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=SEC:2011:0687:FIN:EN:PDF

European Commission: SEC(2011)686: Impact assessment http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=SEC:2011:0686:FIN:EN:PDF

EUR-Lex: COM(2011)326: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2011:326:FIN

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