At a sitting held on November 3rd 2011, the Committee on European Affairs and Oversight of the European Funds (CEAOEF) reviewed the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and the Council on the right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings and on the right to communicate upon arrest, COM(2011) 326. The Directive is listed as Article 54 on the Annual Work Program of the National Assembly on EU Affairs (2011) and is considered as part of a comprehensive package of EU legislation which will provide a minimum set of procedural rights of suspects and accused persons in criminal proceedings.

The proposal aims to set common minimum standards on the rights of suspects and accused persons in criminal proceedings throughout the European Union to have access to a lawyer and to communicate upon arrest with a third person, such as a relative, employer or consular authority. European Arrest Warrant (EAW) proceedings are explicitly covered by the directive proposal.

CEAOEF welcomes the proposal for a Directive and considers that the proposal is in full compliance with the principle of subsidiarity, established in the Lisbon Treaty. The existing differences among the Member States legal systems concerning the right to a lawyer and the right to communicate upon arrest justifies the need for a common EU legal framework. A common framework at European level will contribute to the harmonization of the national rules in this area. CEAOEF deems that the existence of a minimum set of common standards in criminal proceedings will encourage mutual trust between the criminal justice systems of all Member States. That shall consequently lead to judicial cooperation improvement and further strengthening of the mutual recognition of judgments and judicial decisions. Thus the protection of individual rights between the EU Member States will be further facilitated.

Meanwhile, CEAOEF expresses some concerns regarding the principle of proportionality in relation to the national procedural rules for admissibility of evidence, established in each Member State. Such concerns are brought forward by the Legal Affairs Committee which also supports the directive proposal.

The Bulgarian National Assembly's position on the proposal for a directive, expressed by the CEAOEF, was sent to the presidents of the European Commission and the European Parliament within the framework of the political dialogue.

CEAOEF's report on the proposal for a directive is available at the following link:

http://parliament.bg/pub/cW/20111103015136Statement_right%20of%20access%20to%20a%20lawyer%20in%20criminal%20proceedings_54.pdf