Defence lawyers can drive the use of EU law to challenge fundamental rights abuses. They operate on the front-line of the justice system, deciding which legal arguments to make and whether to apply EU law. The Litigating to Advance Defence Rights in Europe (LADRE) Project aims to strengthen the ability of defence lawyers to effectively engage in litigation at domestic and EU levels where rights have been violated, and use EU law to tackle abuse of fundamental rights in criminal justice systems across the EU.
This document contains relevant resources for defence lawyers related to the EU standards for procedural safeguards of suspects and accused persons in criminal proceedings. These standards are primarily regulated in the Directives on the right to interpretation and translation, the right to information, the right of access to a lawyer, procedural safeguards for children, the right to the presumption of innocence and to be present at trial and the right to legal aid (called, the Roadmap Directives).
