a. Procedural rights: In the European Union, six procedural rights directives have been introduced under the Roadmap for Strengthening Procedural Rights of Suspected or Accused Persons in Criminal Proceedings.265 These rights include access to legal aid and access to a lawyer, as well as, specifically, the right to confidential consultation with a lawyer.266 Access to prompt and impartial medical examinations also constitutes a crucial pre-trial right for the prevention of torture in detention facilities. b. The principle of using pre-trial detention only as a measure of last resort, and regular judicial review of detention: In order to avoid the excessive or abusive use of pre-trial detention, courts should apply the principle of using deprivation of liberty only as a measure of last resort. Courts should not deprive a person of their liberty simply because it is provided by law and is carried out in a lawful manner, but also because it is reasonable and necessary in all circumstances (evaluated on a case-by-case basis). This requires the application of the principle of proportionality and a careful assessment of the risk of reoffending, as well as the risk of causing harm to the society. The length of pre-trial detention should be fixed by law and/or be reviewed at regular intervals,267 in a process that all stakeholders (the detainee, judicial body, and prosecutor) must be able to initiate.268 The need for the continuation of detention on remand of any suspect or accused should be reviewed at regular intervals, as the pressing necessity to remand someone in custody may decrease or even disappear with time.269 In one Western European OSCE participating State, reviews of bail are heard in oral proceedings that ensure a rigorous assessment of whether grounds for continued detention exist. Those reviews of detention occur at the High Court and assess the situation of the defendant from scratch, rather than simply reviewing previous decisions; this provides crucial oversight of initial decisions by district courts.270 The ECtHR has highlighted the need for a separate, reasoned, judicial decision to extend pre-trial detention in a case concerning a minor.271 265 Roadmap for strengthening procedural rights of suspected or accused persons in criminal proceedings, op. cit., note 141. 266 Directive 2013/48/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2013 on the right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings and in European arrest warrant proceedings, and on the right to have a third party informed upon deprivation of liberty and to communicate with third persons and with consular authorities while deprived of liberty, OJ L 294, 6.11.2013, Article 4. 267 De Wilde, Ooms and Versyp v Belgium, App 2832/66, 2835/66, 2899/66, 18 June 1971, para 76. 268 Rakevich v Russia, App 58973/00, 28 October 2003, para 43. 269 Council of Europe, European Committee on Crime Problems, “White paper on Prison overcrowding”, (2016), para. 87. 270 Fair Trials, op. cit., note 245, p. 30, para 94, referring to Ireland. 271 ECtHR, Grabowski v. Poland, (application no. 57722/12) 30 June 2015. 74