2.7 Using windows of opportunity and finding innovative and effective ways to strengthen procedural rights All of the above-mentioned show how difficult it is to influence change, particularly as CSOs coming from ‘outside’. A systemic approach can help in recognising the limits of our possibilities, to remain humble and serves as a useful guidance to carefully craft effective interventions. It is important to detect small signals of change and seize ‘windows of opportunity’. These can be scandals published in investigative reports or monitoring bodies, miscarriages of justice, unforeseen political changes, international developments etc.64 EXAMPLES For example in Austria 2013, a 14-year old juvenile was sexually abused by other inmates in a Vienna remand prison, creating a public scandal, which lead to changes in the placement regulation for inmates and an expert group report with far-reaching recommendations to reduce pre-trial detention of juveniles.65 Ireland is currently undergoing police reform through legislative reform. A new Bill aims to codify police powers and rights in custody.66 This offered a window of opportunity to link this project to a live moment in time and history to make the new legislation as progressive as possible. In Belgium, in the process of reforming the Letter of Rights, Fair Trials reached out to the Conseil Supérieur de la Justice, which had recently published a report analysing the public’s lack of trust in the judiciary. One of the identified causes of the luck of trust was the complexity of legal language. Thus, the Head of the Conseil Supérieur de la Justice at the time supported the efforts to promote the use of plain language through training activities and participated in the initiative organised by Fair Trials (see above, § 2.4).67 In Romania, a strike by lawyers in February 2019 was supported by APADOR-CH and a (project-based) working group of criminal justice experts. They argued for higher legal aid remuneration during the negotiations for a new Legal Aid Fee Protocol. A public statement of solidarity by APADOR-CH and the development of objective indicators by the working group to substantiate the claims ultimately led to the adoption of a new Protocol increasing the fee for legal aid lawyers. The involvement of APADOR-CH and conclusions of the working group and some of its recommendations served as important input in the negotiating process.68 Several experts who attended the workshops identified the ECtHR judgment Salduz v. Turkey69 as an important regional opportunity for change. In Salduz v. Turkey, the court ruled that if defendants are not offered legal assistance from the moment of arrest, their fair trial rights are violated. The ruling 64. English and others, ‘Influencing for Impact Guide: How to Deliver Effective Influencing Strategies’ (Oxfam 2020) 14. 65. ‘Jugendstrafvollzug: Fragezeichen und Reformversprechen’ (Kurier 10.07.2013) <https://kurier.at/chronik/oesterreich/ jugendstrafvollzug-fragezeichen-und-reformversprechen/18.650.896>-. 66. ‘Garda powers to be modernised and updated under new Bill from Minister Humphreys’ (Department of Justice 14.06.2021) <https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/6ed9f-garda-powers-to-be-modernised-and-updated-under-new-bill-from-ministerhumphreys/>. 67. Conseil Superieur de la Justice, ‘Project Flavour: Clear Language on the Agenda of the Judicial System’ (2018) <https://csj.be/ admin/storage/hrj/projectflavour.pdf>. 68. Fair Trials, ‘Where’s My Lawyer? Making Legal Assistance in Pre-Trial Detention Effective’ (2019) 17. 69. Salduz v. Turkey (2008) (Application no. 36391/02) https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22itemid%22:[%22001-89893%22]} 30