The European Commission has today presented a package of proposals to further strengthen procedural safeguards for citizens in criminal proceedings. The aim is to guarantee fair trial rights for all citizens, wherever they are in the European Union. Today’s proposals aim to guarantee the respect for the presumption of innocence and the right to be present at trial; make sure children have special safeguards when facing criminal proceedings; guarantee access of suspects and accused to provisional legal aid at the early stages of proceedings and especially for people subject to a European Arrest Warrant. The new proposals are another milestone down the road of procedural rights and complement a set of three other EU laws agreed since 2010: on the right to translation and interpretation (IP/13/995), the right to information (IP/12/575), and the right to access a lawyer (IP/13/921). These proposals promote the principle of equality of arms to provide all parties with the protection of a fair trial. Once adopted, the proposals will help to increase mutual trust in Member States' judicial systems and therefore ensure a smooth functioning of the European.
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