Bringing directives on procedural rights of the EU to police stations:Practical training for criminal defence lawyers

Although national laws implementing Directive 2013/48/EU on the right of access to a lawyer provide a legal framework, the protection of the rights of suspects must be carried out by defence lawyers in their day-to-day practice. National legal frameworks may be internally inconsistent or may fall short of European Union requirements. Research shows that, for these or other reasons, defence counsels may encounter a variety of difficulties in fulfilling their role at police interviews, which often leads them to adopt a passive approach. An approach focused on adherence to new regulations appears insufficient to prepare lawyers for this role. It is essential that lawyers are given practical tools to effectively fulfil their role, especially where regulations do not provide any guidance. To this end, a new practical training programme has been developed and piloted in four countries, with these initial experiments providing promising results