Inside Police Custody 2 Right to information • The European Commission should enter into discussions with the relevant authorities of member states with a view to ensuring that: (a) the respective letters of rights are drafted in simple and accessible language, fully comply with the requirements of the Directive, and are available in a range of languages; (b) the law expressly provides for suspected and accused persons to be given an opportunity to read the letter of rights; (c) mechanisms are put in place to ascertain whether suspected and accused persons understand the rights of which they are notified, and the implications of waiver; and (d) the law expressly provides for a right of detained suspected or accused persons to keep the letter of rights in their possession (in accordance with Article 4 of the Directive on the right to information). • The European Commission should, in line with the recommendation above concerning electronic recording, consider whether to propose an EU-wide standard regarding electronic recording of the process by which notification of procedural rights is provided, in order to ensure that the requirements regarding notification of procedural rights are complied with. • The European Commission should confirm that the right of access to documents that are essential to effectively challenging the lawfulness of arrest or detention must be routinely provided, and is not dependant on a request by the suspected or accused person, or their lawyer. Right of access to a lawyer • The European Commission should, in line with the recommendation above concerning electronic recording, consider whether to propose an EU-wide standard regarding interrogations, in order to ensure that the rights of the suspected or accused person, and the role of the lawyer, are adequately protected. • Working with the relevant European professional bodies, the European Commission should seek to establish standards for admission to and the operation of duty lawyer schemes, and standards regarding training for lawyers who advise and assist detained suspected or accused persons (having regard to Article 7 of the Directive on the right to legal aid). With regard to training, the European Commission should publicise the training materials developed by the SUPRALAT project (available at http://www.salduzlawyer.eu/training/theoretical-materials/). • The European Commission should closely monitor the measures adopted for the purposes of transposition of the Directive on the right to legal aid, in order to ensure that schemes for applying a means test, and the arrangements for remunerating lawyers, do not undermine the obligation to make legal aid of an adequate quality available for suspected and accused persons who are detained during the course of criminal investigation. 7