The right to have access to a lawyer within the criminal proceedings in the European Union

• Author: Minodora Ioana Rusu
• Position: Bucharest, Romania
• Pages: 214-226

The right to have access to a lawyer

within the criminal proceedings in the European Union

Assistant professor Minodora-Ioana RUSU

1

Abstract

In the present study we have examined the provisions of the European legal

instrument governing the right of access to a lawyer within the criminal proceedings in a

Member State of the European Union, especially in situations where a gainst the person

concerned it was imposed a measure of deprivation of liberty and the right to have access

to consular authorities, the right to inform a third person and the right of access to a

lawyer in execution proceedings of a European Arrest Warrant. With the actual

examination of these provisions, we referred also to the provisions of law, emphasizing the

differences of the existing regulation and the need to transpose the European legal

instrument into the national law by a separate legislative act and not by completing the

special law, as it is intended at the moment. The innovations consist of examining the

European legal instrument focusing on the right to have access to all the criminal

proceedings, with reference to relevant national legislation, including the procedure of

executing a European arrest warrant. The paper can be u seful to academics, practitioners

in the field and to the Romanian legislat or from the perspective of transposing this

European legal instrument into the national law.

Keywords: suspec ted or accused person, the right to defense, the right to

communicate with consular authorities, lawyer.

JEL Classification: K14, K33

1. Introduction

In Europe, the right to a fair trial and implicitly the right to defense is

unanimously recognized by all states, it is expressly provided for in article 6 of the

European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, art. 47 of the

Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and art. 14 of the

International pact on Civil and Political Rights.

2

In Romania, the right to a fair trial is expressly provided for in art. 21, par.

(3) of the Constitution which states that “the parties have the right to a fair trial and

to solve the cases within a reasonable time”.

1

Minodora-Ioana Rusu - Christian University „Dimitrie Cantemir” of Bucharest, Romania, oanarusu

_86@yahoo.com.

2

The pact was adopted and opened for signature by the United Nations General Assembly on 16

December 1966 and entered into force 10 years later, i.e. on 23 March 1976. Romania has ratified

the pact on October 31, 1974 by Decree no. 212, published in the Official Monitor of Romania, Part

I, no. 146 of November 20, 1974.