EU: Criminal suspects across Europe should be handed a "letter of rights" after being arrested, showing what they are entitled to in terms of defence, the European Commission said yesterday.
In a package of proposals which seek to balance laws drawn up to crack down on terror groups and crime, the letter of rights is the first move to ensure defendants' rights in the EU.
"The European area of freedom, security and justice that we are creating can only be consolidated if our legislative action achieves the right balance between the search for security and the guarantee of fundamental rights," European Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Mr Antonio Vitorino said in a statement.
The EU has already launched a drive to harmonise national measures to ensure criminals and terrorists find no safe haven inside the bloc - moves given more urgency by the September 11th attacks and, more recently, by the Madrid bombings.
As signatories to the European Convention of Human Rights, all EU member-states have certain standards ensuring suspects' rights are respected. The Commission's aim is to make these rights more visible.
Anyone arrested or charged with a crime inside the EU should be handed a letter spelling out their right to get legal counsel, translation into a language they understand and their right to contact with family, the Commission said. Opposition from some EU states had held up the drafting of proposals, with Austria and Spain questioning the legal basis of Commission action in this area.