b. The other Directives The situation in relation to the other Directives is less clear. Article 8(2) of Directive 2012/13/EU provides a general right obligation concerning remedies, providing: ‘Member States shall ensure that suspects or accused persons or their lawyers have the right to challenge, in accordance with procedures in national law, the possible failure or refusal of the competent authorities to provide information in accordance with this Directive.’ In relation to Directive 2010/64/EU, very little is provided other than that there should be a ‘right to challenge’ a decision that there is no need for linguistic assistance or a ‘possibility to complain’ regarding the quality of linguistic assistance provided. Both these Directives therefore leave a great deal to Member States’ discretion. However, this is still subject to general requirements of EU law. c. The right to an effective remedy However, it should be borne in mind that even when something is left to Member State competence, general principles of EU law still apply, including the right to an effective remedy. This right, which has existed for a long time in the CJEU case-law, is contained in Article 47 of the Charter: ‘Everyone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by the law of the Union are violated has the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid down in this Article.’ d. General approach in the Toolkits Fair Trials relies on the following two assumptions in these Toolkits:  Whilst the provisions in the specific Directives differ in the extent of approximation they bring about, all reflect the general assumption that EU law rights must be effectively protected through judicial remedies.  In order to be legally effective, a judicial remedy offered in respect of a violation of one of the Directives needs to be such as to achieve the purpose pursued, which with all the Directives is to ensure the fairness of the proceedings.  Accordingly, the remedy which you should be seeking is one within the context of the criminal proceedings, which has the ability to recognise a given act (e.g. a police questioning conducted in violation of obligations in the Directives) as inconsistent with a right under the Directives and take action to redress any prejudice this has caused to the fairness of the proceedings.  Start from the basis that you have a general right to an effective judicial remedy in accordance with Article 47 of the Charter, of which there may in addition be a specific articulation in the Directive. You must be able to call upon a court to ensure the fairness of the proceedings and ensure the objective pursued by the relevant Directive is achieved. 9

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