Commission decides to refer HUNGARY to the Court for failing to correctly transpose rules on the right of access to a lawyer and to communicate upon arrest

July 29, 2024 by European Union Leave a Comment

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

Today, the European Commission decided to refer Hungary to the Court of Justice of the EU for failing to correctly transpose the Directive on the right of access to a lawyer and to communicate upon arrest (Directive 2013/48/EU). The deadline for Member States to transpose the Directive was 27 November 2016.

The Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Hungary on 12 November 2021. The Commission found that rules about derogations from the right of access to a lawyer due to investigative needs and the waiver of the right of access to a lawyer provided for by the Directive were not correctly transposed. On 14 July 2023, the Commission followed with the reasoned opinion. After analysing the replies from Hungary, the Commission concluded that its legislation as notified to the Commission still falls short of the requirements of the Directive. In particular, the Commission sustains that derogations from the right of access to a lawyer due to investigative needs and the waiver of the right of access to a lawyer are not correctly transposed.

The European Commission decided therefore to refer Hungaryto the Court of Justice of the EU.

Background

The EU works to ensure that the basic rights of suspects and accused persons are protected. Common minimum standards are necessary for judicial decisions taken by one Member State to be recognised by the others. Much progress has been made to date, as the EU has adopted 6 directives on procedural rights for suspects and accused persons.

The EU established rules on the right to interpretation and translation, with the Directive 2010/64/EU; on the right to information with the Directive 2012/13/EU; on the right to a lawyer with Directive 2013/48/EU; on the right to legal aid with the Directive (EU) 2016/1919; on the right to be presumed innocent and to be present in a trial with the Directive (EU) 2016/343; and with the Directive (EU) 2016/800 on special safeguards for children who are suspects or accused in criminal proceedings.

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