Recommendation on procedural rights of suspects and accused people subject to pre-trial detention and on material detention conditions

 

SUMMARY OF:

Recommendation (EU) 2023/681 on procedural rights of suspects and accused persons subject to pre-trial detention and on material detention conditions

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE RECOMMENDATION?

The recommendation aims to provide guidance for European Union (EU) Member States to strengthen the rights of suspects and accused people who are subject to pre-trial detention, in relation both to their procedural rights and to material detention conditions, in order to ensure that people who are to deprived liberty are treated with dignity and in respect of their fundamental rights.

KEY POINTS

Procedural rights

EU directives already cover a number of elements of procedural rights including:

• the right to interpretation and translation;
• the right to information;
• the right to access a lawyer;
• presumption of innocence;
• procedural safeguards for children; and
• legal aid.

This recommendation complements these directives along with the Commission recommendation on procedural safeguards for vulnerable people suspected or accused in criminal proceedings (see summary).

General principles

The recommendation sets out four main principles:

• pre-trial detention should be a measure of last resort;
• detainees must be treated with respect and dignity, and in line with the relevant human rights obligations, including those under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 4 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union;
• efforts should be made to manage detention in a way that facilitates the social reintegration of detainees, with a view to preventing reoffending;
• the recommendation should be applied without distinction to gender, ethnicity, age or any other status.

Procedural rights of suspects and accused people

The recommendation sets out minimum standards for those subject to pre-trial detention, covering various aspects including:

• the use of pre-trial detention as a measure of last resort and availability of alternatives to detention;
• the need for reasonable suspicion and grounds for pre-trial detention;
• justification of reasoning of pre-trial detention decisions;
• periodic review of pre-trial detention;
• that a hearing of the suspect or accused person must always be ensured;
• effective remedies and the right to appeal;
• that the length of pre-trial detention should be as short as possible;
• deduction of time spent in pre-trial detention from the final sentence.

Material detention conditions

The recommendation also sets out minimum standards for detention conditions including:

• accommodation and allocation;
• hygiene and sanitary conditions;
• nutrition;
• time spent outside the cell and outdoors;
• work and education of detainees to promote their reintegration;
• healthcare;
• prevention of violence and ill-treatment;
• contact with the outside world;
• legal assistance;
• requests and complaints
• special measures for:
  • women and girls,
  • foreign nationals,
  • children and young adults,
  • people with disabilities or serious medical conditions;
• specific measures to address radicalisation in prisons.

Reporting

• Member States should inform the European Commission of their follow-up to this recommendation with 18 months of adoption.
• The Commission should subsequently present a report to the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union within 24 months of the recommendation’s adoption.

Background

For further information, see:

• Rights of suspects and accused (European Commission).

MAIN DOCUMENT

Commission Recommendation (EU) 2023/681 of 8 December 2022 on procedural rights of suspects and accused persons subject to pre-trial detention and on material detention conditions (OJ L 86, 24.3.2023, pp. 44–57).

RELATED DOCUMENTS

Non-paper from the Commission services in the context of the adoption of the Recommendation on procedural rights of suspects and accused persons subject to pre-trial detention and on material detention conditions, Council of the European Union, 2 December 2022.

Consolidated version of the Treaty on European Union – Title I – Common provisions – Article 2 (OJ C 202, 7.6.2016, p. 17).

Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (OJ C 202, 7.6.2016, pp. 389–405).

Directive (EU) 2016/1919 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2016 on legal aid for suspects and accused persons in criminal proceedings and for requested persons in European arrest warrant proceedings (OJ L 297, 4.11.2016, pp. 1–8).

Successive amendments to Directive (EU) 2016/1919 have been incorporated into the original text. This consolidated version is of documentary value only.

Directive (EU) 2016/800 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on procedural safeguards for children who are suspects or accused persons in criminal proceedings (OJ L 132, 21.5.2016, pp. 1–20).

Directive (EU) 2016/343 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 on the strengthening of certain aspects of the presumption of innocence and of the right to be present at the trial in criminal proceedings (OJ L 65, 11.3.2016, pp. 1–11).

Commission Recommendation of 27 November 2013 on procedural safeguards for vulnerable persons suspected or accused in criminal proceedings (OJ C 378, 24.12.2013, pp. 8–10).

Directive 2013/48/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2013 on the right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings and in European arrest warrant proceedings, and on the right to have a third party informed upon deprivation of liberty and to communicate with third persons and with consular authorities while deprived of liberty (OJ L 294, 6.11.2013, pp. 1–12).

Directive 2012/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2012 on the right to information in criminal proceedings (OJ L 142, 1.6.2012, pp. 1–10).

Directive 2010/64/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 on the right to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings (OJ L 280, 26.10.2010, pp. 1–7).

Council Framework Decision 2008/909/JHA of 27 November 2008 on the application of the principle of mutual recognition to judgments in criminal matters imposing custodial sentences or measures involving deprivation of liberty for the purpose of their enforcement in the European Union (OJ L 327, 5.12.2008, pp. 27–46).

See consolidated version.

Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA of 13 June 2002 on the European arrest warrant and the surrender procedures between Member States – Statements made by certain Member States on the adoption of the Framework Decision (OJ L 190, 18.7.2002, pp. 1–20).

See consolidated version.

last update 16.05.2023