Advocacy initiative • Fair Trials – together with partners in Hungary (HHC), Romania (APADOR) and Italy (Antigone) – is currently participating in a partly EU-funded project on ‘Demystifying Justice: Training for justice actors on the use of plain language and developing clear and accessible Letters of Rights.’54 Our aim is to improve access to justice in criminal proceedings by stimulating a movement for an open and accessible European legal culture grounded in the use of plain language. In particular, we want to develop alternative, more accessible Letters of Rights for defendants at the time of their arrest in EU Member States. • It is necessary to ensure that translations of the Letter of Rights are readily available in the most common foreign languages so that non-native speakers can understand and effectively make use of their rights. • Where this is not possible (for example, with a very unusual language) additional time should be allowed for confidential communication with a lawyer (with the assistance of an interpreter) in advance of any police interview. • • It is critical to ensure Letters of Rights are redrafted in plain and accessible language, which is possible for a non-lawyer to understand even at a time of stress. In this respect, involving plain language experts can be very helpful. Good practice examples exist which show that this is possible (even for the most vulnerable suspects, such as children or persons with mental or other disabilities).55 Translations of Letters of Rights tend to exist only in a limited number of languages, causing difficulties for non-native speakers who have no or insufficient understanding of the national language. The lack of effective judicial remedies in cases where authorities have failed to provide suspects with accessible information on their rights is a key gap, which limits the incentive for law enforcement authorities to comply with this legal requirement. • A remedy in the form of exclusion of evidence from the case file should be introduced in the legislation to deter violations of the right to information during police detention. • Detainees should be provided with sufficient time to read and process the content of the Letter of Rights and be given the opportunity to ask for clarification or additional information on the procedure for exercising the rights. In addition, sufficient time should be allowed for confidential consultation with a lawyer before the police interview takes place, to allow for an oral explanation of rights, where necessary, to ensure a defendant’s proper understanding. • A procedure should be put in place to ensure the identification of a suspect’s vulnerability, so that the necessary support, including accessible information and legal support, is provided.56 54 55 56 16 The project started on 1 October 2018 and runs for 23 months. See, for example the Belgian Letter of Rights presented as a comic strip for children: http://www.childrensrightsbehindbars.eu/outputs/crbb-2-0-outputs/children-s-empowerment. For detailed recommendations on enhancing the procedural safeguards for suspects with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities, please see the report of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights, Dignity at Trial, 2018: https://bim.lbg.ac.at/sites/files/bim/attachments/1_handbook_dignity_at_trial.pdf.