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The article traces the genesis and adoption of Directive (EU) 2016/343 on the presumption of innocence and the right to be present at trial, the fourth measure under the Roadmap on procedural rights. Cras and Erbežnik outline the political debates in Council and Parliament, the …

The article traces the genesis, negotiations, and content of Directive 2013/48/EU on the right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings and European Arrest Warrant (EAW) proceedings. Inspired by Salduz case law, the Directive sets detailed rules on access to a lawyer from the …

On 22 May 2012, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Directive 2012/13/EU on the right to information in criminal proceedings. The directive is the second measure ("measure B") in application of the Roadmap on procedural rights, which was adopted by the Council in 2009. …

The article traces the genesis and content of Directive 2010/64/EU on the right to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings – the first criminal law measure adopted under the Lisbon Treaty and the initial step in the Council’s Roadmap on procedural rights. It outlines the …

The article traces how Directive (EU) 2016/1919 on legal aid—adopted 26 Oct 2016—completed the 2009 Procedural Rights Roadmap. It recounts why “measure C” (access to a lawyer + legal aid) was split, the Commission’s 2013 proposal (initially focused on provisional legal aid), and the political …

Dear Reader, As a practising lawyer specialised in the field of criminal law and criminal procedure who is also involved in international cases − and as an enthusiastic European − I feel that we need a new and strong commitment to “our” Europe in these anxious times. We need to strengthen the EU as a guarantor for peace, our common values, human and fundamental rights, and the rule of law in our common area of freedom, security and justice. Since the Amsterdam Treaty and the Tampere Council in 1999, the legal principle of mutual recognition of judicial decisions has been...

The Italian criminal law system, unlike the systems in many other European countries, allows the defense to carry out defensive investigations on behalf of his/her client. In this contribution, the shortcomings of the recent European legislation on the matter are analyzed, as well as the …

The article examines how the principle of equality must be safeguarded in proceedings of the forthcoming European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO). Falletti identifies two main challenges: ensuring equal rights for suspects and ensuring equal handling of cases. Since the EPPO applies both its Regulation and …

The article assesses France’s transposition of EU directives on the rights of suspects in criminal proceedings. While reforms have strengthened participation in trials, the right to information, and access to interpretation and translation, implementation often falls short of the directives’ spirit. Access to a lawyer …

The piece examines how the European Investigation Order (Directive 2014/41/EU) seeks speedy, mutual-recognition-based cross-border evidence gathering while still respecting fundamental rights. It notes explicit safeguards (Art. 1(4); refusal ground via Charter, Art. 11(1)(f); validation by a judicial authority; special rules for privacy-intrusive measures like telecoms …