EU Justice - no thought for the victim or the public interest
AUGUST 2010: A communique this week from the EU Commission regarding some recent decisions has caught the attention of British National Party researchers.
In particular the Proposal from the Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Council on the right to information in criminal proceedingsHere the Commission has adopted a proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council aiming to set common minimum standards as regards the right to information in criminal proceedings throughout the European Union.
This is in order . . .
* to improve the rights of suspects and accused persons by ensuring that they receive information about their rights
* to inform them better about the nature and cause of the accusation against them
* to enable them to prepare their defence and to safeguards the fairness of proceedings.
This proposal is the second step in a series of measures which instructs the Commission to put forward proposals on a "step by step" basis on the following measures:
(1) the right to interpretation and translation;
(2) the right to information about rights;
(3) legal advice, before trial and at trial;
(4) the right for a detained person to communicate with family members, employers and consular authorities;
(5) the protection for vulnerable suspects.
The legislation seems to be falling over backwards to look after the requirements of the suspected wrongdoer, with special help for illegal immigrants.
As one researcher pointed out:
"There's nothing about the rights of the victim or the public interest.
"It seems that in this case, the Commission is falling over itself to help those those facing criminal proceedings by squandering vast sums of taxpayers' money on expensive legal and interpretation fees."
read more at Nick Griffin MEP Blog at http://www.nickgriffinmep.eu/news
