Procedural aspects: Information and Consent sentenced persons communicate in a language that is mutually understandable.279 In cases of transfers of probation measures and supervision orders, almost half of the Member States provide interpretation assistance for individuals when they are consenting to a transfer and requesting a transfer. 6.3. Right to legal assistance and legal aid The three Framework Decisions do not address legal counsel in the issuing state; this matter is left for national laws. Since the Framework Decisions were adopted, the EU also has in place legislation on the right to a lawyer (with a transposition deadline of 27 November 2016). However, the Directive on the right on access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings applies only to criminal proceedings and European Arrest Warrant proceedings; hence it is not applicable to transfer proceedings. Therefore, it is for domestic law to determine whether a prisoner would be entitled to consult a lawyer in the course of transfer proceedings. Similarly, national law sets the rules for entitlement to legal aid. Framework Decision on transfer of prisoners Only nine Member States (Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Finland, Hungary, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sweden) included the right to legal assistance in their statutes concerning transfer of prisoners. Eight of them expressly provide for the entitlement to legal aid, including conditions for eligibility. However, in many states general provisions apply that provide that all persons in detention – as all persons falling under the scope of the Framework Decision on transfer of prisoners would be – have a right to contact a lawyer of their choice, who can be consulted face-to-face and present at any formal acts. This is the case in at least 14: Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and the United Kingdom). Similarly, in 14 States (Croatia, Estonia, France, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the United Kingdom) entitlement to legal aid is regulated by general provisions that are also applicable to transfer cases. For example, Article 18 of the Constitution of the Netherlands states that everybody has the right to receive subsidised legal aid, which means that suspects/sentenced persons are also entitled to request this support in transfer cases. The assistance can be provided face-to-face, or via 279 Estonia, Representative of the International Judicial Co-operation Division. telephone or video screen.280 In Belgium, sentenced persons in detention always have a right to be assisted by a legal counsel at their request.281 Legal advice is provided face-to-face and the legal counsel is also present during their appearances before the public prosecutor.282 In the Czech Republic, the principle of mandatory legal representation applies to all people in detention.283 In Cyprus, this issue seems to be problematic, as the right to unlimited visits from legal counsel applies only to persons arrested on remand. Access to a lawyer for persons serving prison sentences is more restricted: according to prison regulations, lawyers may visit detainees only for as long as a charge is pending against them in court or following a request from a detainee and permission from the prison director. 284 The preconditions of the prisoner’s request and the director’s permission may operate as obstacles; the Ombudsman has identified cases in which the prison claimed that a prisoner did not request to see a lawyer, which was disputed by both the prisoner and the lawyer. In a report published in 2013, in response to a complaint from a prisoner whose access to a lawyer was denied, the Ombudsman criticized the prison authorities for unjustifiably denying the prisoner’s right to legal counsel and stressed that prisoners’ access to legal counsel is a necessary and key issue for the implementation of Article 6 of the ECHR.285 In Italy, according to consulted staff in the Court of Appeal of Turin, the prison registration office conducts hearings involving detainees without any legal assistance. In one case involving a lawyer in Italy with a Romanian client who was transferred to Romania in May 2014, the lawyer was only informed about the transfer via a letter from the client after already having been transferred to Romania.286 Framework Decision on probation and alternative sanctions When it comes to transfers in accordance with the Framework Decision on probation and alternative sanctions, FRA’s findings indicate that general rules regarding a right to be assisted by legal counsel when appearing before a public institution apply in 12 states 280 Netherlands, Constitution (Grondwet), 24 August 1815, Art. 18. 281 Belgium, Act related to the application of the mutual recognition principle to custodial sentence or measure deprivative of liberty pronounced in a European Union Member State, Art. 33, paras. 1 and 4. 282 Belgium, Representative of the Ministry of Justice. 283 Czech Republic, Act on International Justice Cooperation in Criminal Matters (zákon o mezinárodní justiční spolupráci ve věcech trestních), 20 March 2013, para. 19 (2) (a). 284 Cyprus, Prison Regulations (General) of 1997 as subsequently amended, Regulation 116, Art. 10 (i) and 10 (ii). Not available online. 285 Cyprus, Commissioner for Administration and Human Rights (2013). 286 Italy, Legal practitioner. 89