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The ECJ ruled that a police authority may, in a criminal investigation, collect biometric data solely on the ground that that collection is strictly necessary. The ruling puts a stop to the practice of taking biometric data by law enforcement authorities in a routine way.

In two parallel infringement proceedings against Hungary and the Czech Republic, AG Tamara Ćapeta concluded that both Member States have failed to correctly transpose Directive 2013/48/EU on the right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings as their national legislations allow the questioning of suspects without a lawyer if the lawyer does not appear within a certain time period.

At their 135th session in Chişinău, Moldova, on 14–15 May 2026, the Committee of Ministers instructed the Secretary General to submit proposals for negotiations on a legal instrument addressing foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI), including the possible establishment of a framework convention.

On 15 May 2026, the Committee of Ministers adopted an important Declaration on the ECHR and migration. It reaffirms the CoE member states’ commitment to the Convention and their support for the independence of the European Court of Human Rights, underscoring that migration-related challenges require a coordinated response firmly rooted in human rights.

The procedural rights of defendants in the EU have evolved through a combination of legislative harmonisation and judicial interpretation by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Following the 2009 Roadmap for strengthening procedural rights of suspected or accused persons in criminal proceedings, …

Over more than two decades, the EU’s area of criminal justice has been built instrument by instrument — a forest of interdependent legal tools. Yet the ecosystem is out of balance: enforcement powers and prosecutorial instruments have grown vigorously while the procedural safeguards designed to …