Inside Police Custody 2 ensure the quality of legal aid lawyers” in place in Hungary, opposite to what is required by § 17 of the Recommendation on legal aid. The lack of quality assurance is a problem also because previous research has shown deficiencies with regard to the level of performance of appointed defence counsels as compared to retained defence counsels, e.g. in terms of their presence at investigative acts and their level of active involvement. Thus, indigent defendants represented by appointed defence counsels are still often provided with less effective defence than those who can afford to retain a lawyer. Apart from the fact that appointments were made by the authorities, the causes underlying this difference include the fact that as compared to market rates, the fees of appointed defence counsels are still low. In addition to that, under the Old CCP it was a problem as well that appointed defence counsels were not compensated at all for certain activities that are necessary for carrying out defence work. New rules enhance the situation also in this regard, for example by introducing a “preparation fee”. The assessment of the system of appointments in general is hindered by the fact that no statistical data are available as to the ex officio appointments broken down according to the grounds for appointment. Recommendations Recommendations for the legislator: 1. In order to comply with Article 3(3) of Directive 2010/64/EU, legal provisions should provide defendants or their legal counsels the possibility to submit a reasoned request for the translation of documents beyond documents served (and therefore translated) on the basis that they regard those essential for the given case. 2. In order to achieve compliance with the requirements of Articles 2(8) and 3(8) of Directive 2010/64/ EU, prescribing that interpretation and translation shall be of a quality sufficient to safeguard the fairness of the proceedings, we recommend the following: a. Review the provision in the New CCP saying that if it is not possible to appoint a person having the qualification stipulated in a separate legal regulation as interpreter or translator, “any other person having sufficient knowledge of a certain language could be appointed as an ad hoc interpreter”. In relation to that, consider prescribing on a statutory level the aspects to be taken into consideration when establishing that a person has “sufficient knowledge of a certain language” (e.g. language exams, certified experience, citizenship, etc.), or prescribing that the authorities shall establish such rules in a binding internal rule or in another format (e.g. in a manual or guideline) that is accessible for the public and foreseeable. b. A quality assurance system with regard to interpreters and translators should be introduced on a statutory level, or it should be prescribed that the police and the courts shall introduce such a quality assurance system. c. The mandatory audio recording of interpreted procedural acts should be prescribed so that when doubts about the quality of interpretation are raised, the quality can be reviewed by the proceeding authorities. 3. Steps must be taken to ensure that cost reduction be granted to all indigent defendants irrespective of whether defence is otherwise mandatory in their cases. We recommend reviewing the conditions for granting cost reduction, and performing an impact assessment as to whether the current conditions for 73