Project description Authors The Factsheet was developed in the framework of the EU Project ´From law to practice: Strengthening procedural rights in police custody (ProRPC)’ implemented by the LBI-GMR (Austria), in cooperation with APADOR-CH (Romania), Fair Trials Europe (Belgium), the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (Ireland), and Rights International Spain (Spain). The Factsheet was written by Livia Popa and Georgiana Gheorghe of the Association for the Defence of Human Rights in Romania-the Helsinki Committee (APADOR-CH). The chapter on the regional challenges draws heavily on the work of Fair Trials Europe, who conducted in depth regional research in the framework of this Project. Acknowledgements The Project team would like to thank all criminal justice actors, experts, policymakers, practitioners, decision-makers, as well as all the representatives of civil society who participated in the roundtables and consultations of this Project for their commitment and engagement. The Factsheet is intended for all criminal justice actors and advocates who are interested in reforming their national system.The research on the promising practices focused especially on the practices of four EU Member States: Austria, Ireland, Spain, and Romania. Additional practices and examples from other EU Member States were gathered via regional consultations as well as the regional research conducted by Fair Trials Europe. As each practice came about in a specific national context, in order to successfully replicate them, it will always be important to tailor them to the national contexts, dynamics and cultures. Yet we hope that disseminating information on the reform processes occurred in other countries can offer useful inspiration to strengthen procedural rights and overcome existing barriers. Other factsheets of the series cover the areas of right to information, legal aid, and audio-visual recordings. The factsheets should be read in combination with the final report that provides insights into HOW the envisaged change can be achieved. Our most sincere gratitude goes also to the four members of the External Advisory Board: Marine Braun, Ed Lloyd-Cape, Ivar Fahsing, and Gwen Jansen, for their invaluable feedback and advice. We would also like to thank Moritz Birk, Walter Suntinger and Helmut Sax, who have provided precious inputs and comments. Information about the Project and Factsheet The Factsheet highlights the relevance of the right to access to a lawyer during the criminal investigation phase. It reflects on identified challenges and discusses promising practices. The goal is to respond to the question WHAT can be done to strengthen procedural rights. To this end, the Factsheet unpacks the key elements of the promising practices and attempts to identify lessons learnt. Thereby, the Factsheet not only describes the promising practices, but also investigates three main questions: • • • What are the main benefits of the promising practices? How did the promising practices come about? (e.g. What triggered their implementation? What were the challenges faced beforehand?) What are the remaining challenges in the implementation of the promising practices? KOSOVO 4 5