EU Trial in absence - Attorney General launches UK consultation for clearer standards
28 Feb 2008
Moves to strengthen legal safeguards across the EU for people tried abroad in their absence are set out in a consultation paper issued by Baroness Scotland, the Attorney General, today.
The paper seeks to improve judicial co-operation between EU states and secure tougher procedural rights for citizens in such cases. It invites views from practitioners and stakeholders in the UK on a draft EU framework decision on trials in absentia, tabled by the Slovenian Presidency and co-sponsored by the UK.
Baroness Scotland said: "Nobody wants to see people who deliberately evade their trials escape justice just because they have gone to another member state. But we don't want people to be sent back on the basis of a trial they didn't know about - unless there is an absolute guarantee of a retrial.
"We are inviting views on these proposals which I believe represent sensible and practical steps to improve citizens' rights abroad and strengthen co-operation against crime across the EU. I am pleased there appears to be widespread support among EU states for these measures. This is not about harmonising legal systems, but raising standards in cross-border cases and reinforcing fundamental rights to a fair trial."
France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Slovakia are also co-sponsoring the measure. Under existing Union law, member states can enforce each other's fines and judgments, and can agree to arrest and surrender a citizen, following legal proceedings at which that citizen was not present. However, a state can refuse to co-operate if, broadly speaking, the citizen did not know about the proceedings and, in cases involving the European Arrest Warrant, if the citizen cannot apply for a retrial.
Baroness Scotland said: "These grounds for refusal amount to significant protections for the citizen's fundamental rights, but experience has shown that there is a lack of clarity about what they should mean in practice. Differences in approach across the Union are creating a degree of uncertainty and delay."
"We are also strongly in favour of boosting standards right across the EU through targeted funding and concrete practical measures – which we believe make a real difference for the citizen on the ground. We want joint action to get better interpretation for citizens who get into trouble abroad. We also believe our experience can help drive up standards on for example recordings of police suspect interviews, letters of rights, and the use of technology like video conferencing in cross border cases for obtaining evidence or interpretation."
The consultation paper proposes amending mutual recognition agreements on the European Arrest Warrant (EAW), fines, confiscation orders, and custodial sentences. It clarifies and makes more consistent the 'grounds for refusal' upon which the judicial authority of a requested state can refuse to execute a judgment where it was made in the defendant's absence.
Responses to the consultation paper are requested to be sent to the Office for Criminal Justice Reform by 10 April.
Notes for Editors
- 1.The basic policy behind the Framework Decision is that judgments imposed in trials at which the person concerned was not present should not be enforced across EU borders unless he deliberately avoided the trial or has the right to a retrial.
- It is proposed to make it much clearer what information will be needed about the proceedings in order for Member States to be satisfied that the citizen deliberately avoided the trial. If that information is lacking, the proposed policy is that the citizen (in case of an EAW) should not be surrendered unless the Member State asking for co-operation will offer him the right to a fresh determination of the merits of the charge against him. Similarly (in case of the other framework decisions), the judgment should not be enforced, unless the person had been offered a retrial and did not make use of this possibility.
- The European Convention of Human Rights states (ECHR Article 6(2)) that everyone shall be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law, and shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing. These fundamental rights are also set out in the EU Charter. The Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has found violations of the right to a fair trial or the right to liberty in a considerable number of national "in absentia" cases referred to them. The proposed legislation is carefully designed to be compatible with the case law of the ECHR and is intended to secure an enhanced standard for the Union's citizens.
- The consultation paper "Enhancing procedural rights and judicial co-operation in the EU: Proposed Framework Decision on new rules for cross-border cases where judgments are made in absentia" is available from Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Better Trials Unit, Ministry of Justice, Fry Building, Ground Floor SW, 2 Marsham St, London, SW1P 4DT or tel: 0207 035 8316. It is also available online at www.justice.gov.uk/index.htm.
For media enquiries please contact the Attorney General's Office press office on 0207-271-2465 or 2484 or e-mail mark.pearson@attorneygeneral.gsi.gov.uk