End to injustice in Europe due to language barrier (Newham Borough Liberal Democrats)

Newham Borough Liberal Democrats <info@libdems.org.uk>

End to injustice in Europe due to language barrier

May 27, 2010 5:05 PM
Originally published by Sarah Ludford MEP

EU ambassadors on behalf of 26 governments including the UK have today approved a measure on the right to interpretation and translation in trials held in an EU country where the defendant does not understand the local language.

The text was negotiated under new powers of 'co-decision' between the European Parliament and the EU Council represented by the Spanish Presidency.

Liberal Democrat European justice & human rights spokeswoman and London MEP Sarah Ludford is the European Parliament's draftsperson or 'rapporteur' for the directive and conducted the negotiations.

Sarah Ludford is also a patron of the legal organisation Fair Trials International and has been active on many cases over the last decade of denial of proper defence or trial rights, including when there was no proper linguistic provision.

She worked hard on the case of the British planespotters, has recently campaigned to stop the extradition of Garry Mann to Portugal and is currently involved in support of her constituent Andrew Symeou who is due to stand trial in Greece after being in jail there for a year after his return under a European Arrest Warrant.

Sarah Ludford said:

"I'm delighted that this agreement has been reached paving the way for ministerial and MEP approval. EU action to raise standards of criminal justice and fairness for suspects across our continent is urgent, indeed overdue."

"If a defendant does not understand what is going on, there simply cannot be a fair trial. This will allow justice to be done which has not always been the case up to now. Miscarriages of justice and lack of confidence in cross-border procedures and practice make it harder to get the necessary Europe-wide cooperation on catching major criminals and terrorists."

"This measure is the first in a series set to cover information on rights, legal aid, consular assistance and a 'letter of rights'. I am extremely pleased that the UK under the new coalition government is participating on the sensible and pragmatic grounds that better justice means more efficient law enforcement while respecting civil liberties."

ENDS

Note for editors

The legislation will mean that, within the EU, when a suspect is detained or taken to court but does not speak the language, he or she will for the first time have the right to interpretation in all key proceedings and translation of all essential written documents.