Brussels, 7 February 2024
EU Commission decides to refer BELGIUM and LUXEMBOURG to the Court of Justice of the EU for not fully granting the right of access to a lawyer and communication upon arrest
Today, the European Commission decided to refer Belgium and Luxembourg to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to correctly transpose the Directive on the right of access to a lawyer and to communicate upon arrest (Directive 2013/48/EU). The deadline for Member States to transpose the Directive was 27 November 2016.
On 23 September 2021, the Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Belgium concluding that the following parts of the Directive had not been transposed correctly: the right of a minor to have access to a lawyer in a concrete and effective manner; derogation from the right of access to a lawyer due to geographical remoteness; and derogations from the right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings. On 14 July 2023, the Commission followed up with a reasoned opinion. Since the reply to the reasoned opinion from Belgium did not provide proof of correct transposition of the directive, the Commission has decided to refer Belgium to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
On 12 November 2021, the Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Luxembourg concluding that parts related to the ex officio information of the holder of parental responsibility or other appropriate adult about the deprivation of liberty of a child and derogations from it, were not correctly transposed. On 1 June 2023, the Commission sent a reasoned opinion. Since the reply to the reasoned opinion from Luxembourg did not provide proof of correct transposition of the directive, the Commission has decided to refer that Member State to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Background
The EU works to ensure that the basic rights of suspects and accused persons are protected. Common minimum standards are necessary for judicial decisions taken by one Member State to be recognised by the others. Much progress has been made to date, as the EU has adopted six directives on procedural rights for suspects and accused persons.
The EU established rules on the right to interpretation and translation, with the Directive 2010/64/EU; on the right to information with the Directive 2012/13/EU; on the right to a lawyer with Directive 2013/48/EU; on the right to legal aid with the Directive (EU) 2016/1919; on the right to be presumed innocent and to be present in a trial with the Directive (EU) 2016/343; and on the special safeguards for children who are suspects or accused in criminal proceedings, with the Directive (EU) 2016/800.
For More Information
Rights of suspects and accused
Infringement decisions database
Infringement procedure Belgium (INFR(2021)2106)
Infringement procedure Luxembourg (INFR(2021)2139)