INTRODUCTION A. INTRODUCTION 1. Background & other Fair Trials / LEAP training materials In the last decade, the EU Member States have been cooperating closely on cross-border issues, principally through the European Arrest Warrant. Such systems rely on mutual confidence between judicial authorities that each will respect the rights of those concerned, in particular as guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights (‘ECHR’). However, cooperation has been undermined by the fact that judicial authorities called upon to cooperate with one another do not, in reality, have full confidence in each other’s compliance with these standards. In order to strengthen the system, the EU has begun imposing minimum standards to regulate certain aspects of criminal procedure through a programme called the ‘Roadmap’.1 Whilst these measures have their origin in ensuring mutual trust, the result is a set of directives binding national authorities in all cases, including those which have no cross-border element. These cover the right to interpretation and translation,2 the right to information,3 and the right of access to lawyer4 (collectively, the ‘Directives’). The measure discussed in this toolkit is Directive 2012/13/EU on the Right to information in criminal proceedings (the ‘Directive’), which should have been transposed into domestic law by 2 June 2014. The measure governs the suspect’s right to be informed about his procedural rights, to information about the charges he is being accused of and to access to the case file and materials in the case. This toolkit should be read together with the online training video produced by Fair Trials.5 The issue of the right to information, particularly in relation to the manner and timing of the notification of procedural rights to suspects, has received less attention in case-law and practitioner training than the right of access to a lawyer, and the Directive clarifies these important protections. In order for the Directive to achieve its purpose, the Directive must be invoked by lawyers in individual cases to ensure courts uphold its standards. This Toolkit is designed to give you pratical advice as to how to use the Directive in practice. It should be read together with the ‘Using EU Law in Criminal Practice’ Toolkit and the online training video on the Court of Justice of the EU.6 1 Resolution of the Council of 30 November 2009 on a Roadmap for strengthening procedural rights of suspected or accused persons in criminal proceedings (OJ 2009 C 295, p.1). 2 Directive 2010/64/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 on the right to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings, (OJ 2010 L 280, p. 1). 3 Directive 2012/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2012 on the right to information in criminal proceedings (OJ 2012 L 142, p. 1). 4 Directive 2013/48/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2013 on the right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings and in European arrest warrant proceedings, and on the right to have a third party informed upon deprivation of liberty and to communicate with third persons and with consular authorities while deprived of liberty (OJ 2013 L 290, p. 1). 5 Available at http://www.fairtrials.org/fair-trials-defenders/legal-training/online-training/. 6 Available at http://www.fairtrials.org/fair-trials-defenders/legal-training/. 5