EU mulls fair trial rights for criminal suspects

BRUSSELS, May 28 (Xinhua) -- European criminal suspects are to be guaranteed fair trial rights that include immediate access to a lawyer, as the Commission's relevant proposal moved a step closer to becoming the EU law.

In a so-called trilogue meeting here on Tuesday, the negotiations between the Commission and the EU's two co-legislators, the Parliament and the Council, went well on the proposal of criminal suspects' access to a lawyer and communication with family upon arrest.

It is in a series of Commission proposals to set common minimum standards on the rights of suspects in criminal proceedings across the EU. Formal adoptions from the co-legislators are expected in the coming months, according to the Commission.

The other two proposals concerning the right to translation and interpretation and the right to information in criminal proceedings have been adopted.

The Commission was requested to bring forward legislative proposals on procedural rights by the justice and home affairs council in 2009. The rights to a fair trial are set out in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights.

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