EU Ministers Clarify Rules on Trial in Absentia
EU justice ministers expressed support on Saturday for a framework decision on strengthening rights in cases of trial in absentia that sets down clarified rules in court cases in which a defendant is sentenced even if they have not attended the proceedings.
According to the Slovenian EU presidency, the rules will establish a single approach for the mutual recognition of court decisions taken in trials in absentia.
This will improve legal certainty and strengthen judicial cooperation in criminal matters, Slovenian Justice Minister Lovro Sturm said after the informal ministerial meeting at Brdo pri Kranju.
Once the clarified rules take effect (the final confirmation is expected in July), defendants across the EU will need to be properly notified that they are being put to trial in a different EU country.
Applicable to criminal offences committed in another member state that are also covered by the European arrest warrant, the rules specify that the defendants will have to be represented by a lawyer and given the chance to request a retrial.
If these standards are not complied with, the member state where the accused is situated can refuse the demand for extradition. The proposal does however not provide for the harmonisation of procedural provisions of member states.
European Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini expressed the hope that the standards will be confirmed during Slovenia's EU presidency. "This would be a very important message and improve the level of procedural rights across Europe," he said.
The initiative for the common standards had been put forward by the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.
As German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries noted, it is a miracle that the big trio of Germany, Great Britain and France are all on the same position in this issue, which makes it the more likely that the rules will be implemented.
Southern European countries like France, Portugal or Spain allow in absentia trials, but this is not the case for example in Germany and Britain, which were the ones pushing for the accord.
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