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Awaiting Parliament 1st reading / single reading / budget 1st stage



2013/0407(COD) Criminal proceedings: strengthening of certain aspects of the presumption of innocence and of the right to be present at trial
Next event: Indicative plenary sitting date, 1st reading/single reading 2016/03/08
RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Opinion JURI DURAND Pascal (Verts/ALE)
Opinion JURI THEIN Alexandra (ALDE)
Lead LIBE GRIESBECK Nathalie (ALDE)
Lead LIBE WEBER Renate (ALDE)
Lead committee dossier: LIBE/8/00267
Legal Basis TFEU 082-p2

Activites

  • 2016/03/08 Indicative plenary sitting date, 1st reading/single reading
  • 2015/04/21 Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading
    • A8-0133/2015 summary
  • 2015/03/31 Committee decision to open interinstitutional negotiations with report adopted in committee
  • 2015/03/31 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • #3354
  • 2014/12/04 Council Meeting
  • 2014/10/20 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • #3336
  • 2014/10/10 Council Meeting
  • 2014/01/13 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • 2013/11/27 Legislative proposal published
    • COM(2013)0821 summary
    • DG {'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/justice/', 'title': 'Justice'}, REDING Viviane

Documents

  • Legislative proposal published: COM(2013)0821
  • Debate in Council: 3336
  • Debate in Council: 3354
  • Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading: A8-0133/2015
AmendmentsDossier
282 2013/0407(COD)
2014/03/25 JURI 16 amendments...
source: PE-532.333
2015/03/02 JURI 86 amendments...
source: 549.446
2015/03/06 LIBE 180 amendments...
source: 546.821

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

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  • The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs adopted the report by Nathalie GRIESBECK (ADLE, FR) on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the strengthening of certain aspects of the presumption of innocence and of the right to be present at trial in criminal proceedings.

    The committee recommended that Parliament’s position adopted in first reading following the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the Commission proposal as follows:

    Scope: Members specified that the Directive should apply to criminal proceedings, as well as similar proceedings of a criminal nature leading to comparable sanctions of a punitive and deterrent nature, such as deprivation of liberty, irrespective of whether or not the proceedings were classified as criminal. Suspects must be presumed innocent until proven guilty by a final decision delivered according to law, in a trial at which they have had all the safeguards necessary for their defence.

    Public references to guilt before proven guilty: statements must not reflect an opinion that the person was guilty and be of such a nature as to potentially encourage the public to believe the person was guilty. Public authorities must be prohibited from providing to the media any information concerning ongoing criminal proceedings that might undermine the principle of the presumption of innocence.

    In the event of a breach of those requirements, independent investigations must take place on the breach and ensure that the suspect or accused person whose right to the presumption of innocence had been violated had access to an effective remedy.

    Suspects must not presented in court or in public in a manner that suggested their guilt, before final conviction.

    Burden of proof: Members considered that the reversal of the burden of proof in criminal proceedings was unacceptable. The principle that the burden of proof rested with the prosecution must be left untouched. The burden of proof in establishing the guilt of suspects or accused persons is on the prosecution and any doubt is to benefit the suspect or accused person. 

    Use of force: Members stressed that authorities must not use coercion in order to obtain information from a suspect or an accused person. The Directive must state clearly that the use of physical or psychological violence or threats against suspects or accused persons was banned, on the grounds that it constituted a violation of the right to human dignity and the right to a fair trial.

    Right not to incriminate oneself and not to cooperate: the suspect or accused persons must be informed of their right not to incriminate themselves and not to cooperate, prior to any questioning by public authorities, and prior to the suspect giving testimony in court as well as at the moment of the arrest. Exercise of the right not to incriminate oneself and not to cooperate shall never be considered as a corroboration of the facts or as a reason in itself to adopt or maintain measures which restrict liberty before the final decision on the issue of guilt is taken.

    Nevertheless cooperative behaviour by the suspect or accused person might be taken into account as a mitigating factor, when deciding the actual penalty.

    Right to remain silent: the report sets out what constituted in practice the exercise of the right to silence and stated that the exercise of this right must never be considered as a corroboration of the facts, nor as a reason in itself to adopt or maintain measures which restricted liberty before the final decision on the issue of guilt was taken.

    Right to be present at one's trial: Members wanted to place strict limits to cases where judgment might be rendered in the absence of the accused. Accordingly, proceedings might be conducted in the absence of the accused person only if:

    • the accused person, after being duly informed that he or she faced trial, explicitly and unequivocally renounced the right to be present, and only if he or she were represented in the proceedings;
    • if the offence which gave rise to the proceedings was punishable by a fine, and the suspect or accused person must always be present if the offence was punishable by a term of imprisonment.

    Right to a new trial: with a view to preserving the right to a fair trial, Members established that examination of new evidence might take place. Where the suspects were not present at the trial, the person concerned had the right to a new trial which allowed a fresh determination of the merits of the case– with the opportunity to secure new evidence and, if appropriate, to call the previous evidence into question through cross-examination.

    Vulnerable persons: in the implementation of the Directive the particular needs of vulnerable persons who became suspects or accused persons must be taken into account.

    Report: 2 years after the deadline for transposition, the Commission shall submit a report assessing the extent to which the Member States had taken the necessary measures to comply with the Directive.

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  • PURPOSE: to ensure the right to a fair trial by setting out common minimum standards on certain aspects of the presumption of innocence and of the right to be present at trial in criminal proceedings

    PROPOSED ACT: Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council.

    ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.

    BACKGROUND: the Stockholm Programme put a strong focus on the strengthening of the rights of individuals in criminal proceedings. The European Council invited the Commission to consider establishing minimum procedural rights for suspects or accused persons, and to address the issue of presumption of innocence, in order to promote better cooperation in that area.

    Up to now, three measures have been adopted: Directive 2010/64/EU on the right to interpretation and translation, Directive 2012/13/EU on the right to information and Directive 2013/48/EU on the right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings.

    The proposal continues this work and is part of a series of measures on criminal justice which includes: (i) a directive on provisional legal aid for suspects or accused persons deprived of liberty and legal aid in European arrest warrant proceedings; (ii) a directive on procedural safeguards for children suspected or accused in criminal proceedings 

    Moreover, on 14 June 2011, the Commission published a Green Paper on the application of EU criminal justice legislation in the field of detention to reflect on ways to strengthen the application of the principle of mutual recognition in the area of detention, within the limits of the EU's competence.

    The principle of presumption of innocence has been developed over the years. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has held that Article 6(2) of the ECHR encompasses three key requirements: (i) the right not to be publicly presented as convicted by public authorities before the final judgment; (ii) the fact that the burden of proof is on prosecution and that any reasonable doubts on guilt should benefit the accused; and (iii) the right of the accused to be informed of the accusation against him.

    The right to be present at trial is also an essential right of defence.

    IMPACT ASSESSMENT: the Commission’s analysis considers that there exist points in which legal safeguards should be improved with regard to certain aspects the presumption of innocence to strengthen this fundamental right.

    CONTENT: the draft directive aims to lay down minimum rules concerning certain aspects of the right of suspects and accused persons to be presumed innocent unless proven guilty by a final judgment.

    The proposal covers the following rights:

    1) The right not to be presented guilty by public authorities before the final judgment: the ECtHR established as one of the basic aspects of the principle of presumption of innocence the fact that a court or public official may not publicly present the suspects or accused persons as if they were guilty of an offence if they have not been tried and convicted of it by a final judgment.

    2) The burden of proof is on prosecution and any reasonable doubts on the guilt should benefit the accused: this presupposes that a court's judgment must be based on evidence as put before it and not on mere allegations or assumptions.

    3) The right not to incriminate one-self and not to cooperate and the right to remain silent: these rights lie at the heart of the notion of a fair trial under Article 6 of the ECHR.

    ·        the right not to incriminate oneself presupposes that the prosecution in a criminal case seeks to prove the case against the accused without resort to evidence obtained through methods of coercion or oppression;

    ·        the right to remain silent must be ensured and any inferences drawn from the fact that suspects make use of this right should be excluded.

    Suspects should be promptly informed of their right to remain silent. Such information should also refer to the content of the right to remain silent and of the consequences of renouncing to it and of invoking it.

    4) Right to be present at one's trial: the proposal lays down this right, established by the ECtHR, of an accused to be present at the trial and also establishes limited exceptions to this right, in line with the Charter, the ECHR and EU law. It provides that Member States must ensure that the right to be present applies to any trial aiming at assessing the question of the guilt of the accused person (both conviction and acquittal decisions).

    Non-regression clause: the proposal aims to ensure that setting common minimum standards does not have the effect of lowering standards in certain Member States and that the standards set in the Charter and in the ECHR are maintained.

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