Fair Trials submitted written comments in accordance with the permission to intervene granted by the Registrar of the Grand Chamber by letter of 1 September 2015 in accordance with Article 36(2) of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (the ‘Convention’) and Rule 44(3) of the Rules of the Court.
In the intervention, Fair Trials highlighted the that the right to a lawyer and the right to silence are ‘distinct rights’, and emphasised that Directive 2013/48/EU on the right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings was directly relevant to the case. The Directive requires that suspects or accused persons must have access to a lawyer without undue delay.
