NATIONAL LEGAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORKS CONCERNING DEFENDANTS AND PERSONS DEPRIVED OF LIBERTY WITH INTELLECTUAL AND/OR PSYCHOSOCIAL DISABILITIES IN LAW AND IN PRACTICE a violation of his rights to be informed of the charge brought against him, to remain silent and to have access to a lawyer. The Court of Justice decided that: 1. Directive 2012/13/EU on the right to information and Directive 2013/48/EU on the right of access to a lawyer apply to judicial proceedings for compulsory psychiatric treatment of criminally irresponsible persons. 2. Persons suspected of having committed a crime must be informed as soon as possible of their rights from the moment when they are subject to suspicions which justify, in circumstances other than an emergency, the restriction of their liberty by the competent authorities by means of coercive measures and, at the latest, before they are first officially questioned by the police. 3. Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Article 8(2) of Directive 2012/13 and Article 12 of Directive 2013/48 preclude national legislation for compulsory treatment of persons who are criminally irresponsible, where that legislation does not enable the court with jurisdiction to verify that the procedural rights covered by those directives were respected in proceedings prior to those before that court, which were not subject to such judicial review. 4. Directive (EU) 2016/343 on the presumption of innocence and the right to be present at the trial in criminal proceedings and Article 51(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights do not apply to judicial proceedings for civil involuntary treatment (Article 155 of the Health Act). 5. The principle of the presumption of innocence referred to in Article 3 of Directive 2016/343 requires, in judicial proceedings for compulsory treatment of criminally irresponsible persons, that the Public Prosecutor’s Office provides proof that the person whose committal is sought is the perpetrator of the crime. However, as of 2022-2023 no legislative amendments have been adopted and the practice of placement of perpetrators of crimes under civil involuntary treatment and not bringing accusations against them continued. The judge who had sent the request to the Court of Justice stated that: people with disabilities are not indicted and the door to their human rights remains closed under some seemingly humanitarian reasons - “we will not indict him, but in fact he is our only suspect.” - this problem exists in 95% of the pre-trial proceedings regarding persons with IPD.85 85 Bulgaria, Interview with District Court judge V.C on 13 May 2022. Such proceeding proceeds usually at best with one police questioning of the person as a witness, but not being brought as an accused, not being given the opportunity to explain what 30 SLAVKA KUKOVA