CJEU judgment: Rights of suspected and accused people in Portugal (Case NO. C-242/22 PPU)
EU Directives set out minimum rules concerning the right to interpretation and translation in criminal and European Arrest Warrant proceedings, as well as the right to information in criminal proceedings.
These Directives, namely Directive 2010/64 and Directive 2012/13, should have been transposed by October 2013 and June 2014 respectively. However, Portugal indicated to the Commission that it does not consider it necessary to take measures to transpose the Directives. Portugal considered that its national legislation already meets the requirements of the Directives. The Commission has initiated two infringement proceedings against Portugal to verify whether the Directives are actually being complied with.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), in its judgment of 01.08.2022 in case C-242/22 PPU, has already ruled on the (non-)conformity of Portuguese national law regarding the assistance by an interpreter in criminal proceedings and the translation of certain procedural documents with the provisions, in particular, of Articles 1 to 3 Directive 2010/64 and of Article 3 Directive 2012/13.
Vânia Costa Ramos and Dirce Rente, advocates in Portugal, have examined this decision and conclude that it confirms that Portuguese domestic law is inadequate with regard to the right to translation and interpretation and should be amended to ensure compliance with the Directive and the protection of citizens’ rights.
This article is also available in Portuguese here.
