This toolkit explains the procedural aspects of how the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union can be used in the interpretation and application of the Procedural rights directives and the national laws that implement them.
Designed for lawyers, it provides practical assistance and serves as a source of reference to the interpretation and application of the key provisions of the Charter.
The toolkit compiles the latest developments in the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights that are relevant to the enforcement of the key provisions of the Charter. It also identifies the key provisions of the Procedural rights directives where the provisions of the Charter could strengthen their interpretation and application.
Since the Charter is not an instrument that cannot be applied independently of other substantive EU law, this toolkit is designed to assist the interpretation and application of the rights enshrined in the Procedural rights directives. It should therefore be used in combination with Fair Trials toolkits on:
• The Access to a Lawyer Directive
• The Right to Interpretation and Translation Directive
• The Right to Information Directive
• The Legal Aid Directive
• The Presumption of Innocence Directive
