The UN General Assembly Resolution on Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Proceedings - an Example for Europe. IES Policy Brief Issue 2013/04 • May 2013

Summary. The EU’s attempts to adopt an EU-wide instrument on the right to access to legal aid in criminal proceedings have not been successful so far. The important issue was originally part of Measure C of the Roadmap for criminal procedural rights,1 but due to political difficulties legal aid was dropped from the agenda. However, on a different plane agreement was reached on this topic as the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has adopted the world’s first international instrument dedicated to access to legal aid in December 2012.2 This policy brief argues that the EU should carry on in the ‘spirit’ of these recent developments and adopt a directive providing suspects and defendants with access to legal aid. 1 Council Resolution of 30 November 2009 on a Roadmap for strengthening procedural rights of suspected or accused persons in criminal proceedings, OJ C 295/1, 4 December 2009; hereafter will be referred to this Council Resolution as the ‘Roadmap’; for further information see M. Jimeno-Bulnes, ‘The EU Roadmap for Strengthening Procedural Rights of Suspected or Accused Persons in Criminal Proceedings’, 4 EUCrim (2009), 157-161. 2 United Nations Principles and Guidelines on Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems, A/Res/67/187, 20 December 2012; from here on will be referred to this as the ‘Resolution’.

The New EU Criminal Law Competence in Action: The Proposal for a Directive on Criminal Sanctions for Insider Dealing and Market Manipulation. IES WORKING PAPER 5/2013

The aim of this paper is to analyse the proposed Directive on criminal sanctions for insider dealing and market manipulation (COM(2011)654 final), which represents the first exercise of the European Union competence provided for by Article 83(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The proposal aims at harmonising the sanctioning regimes provided by the Member States for market abuse, imposing the introduction of criminal sanctions and providing an opportunity to critically reflect on the position taken by the Commission towards the use of criminal law. The paper will discuss briefly the evolution of the EU’s criminal law competence, focusing on the Lisbon Treaty. It will analyse the ‘essentiality standard’ for the harmonisation of criminal law included in Article 83(2) TFEU, concluding that this standard encompasses both the subsidiarity and the ultima ratio principles and implies important practical consequences for the Union’s legislator. The research will then focus on the proposed Directive, trying to assess if the Union’s legislator, notwithstanding the ‘symbolic’ function of this proposal in the financial crisis, provides consistent arguments on the respect of the ‘essentiality standard’. The paper will note that the proposal raises some concerns, because of the lack of a clear reliance on empirical data regarding the essential need for the introduction of criminal law provisions. It will be stressed that only the assessment of the essential need of an EU action, according to the standard set in Article 83(2) TFEU, can guarantee a coherent choice of the areas interested by the harmonisation process, preventing the legislator to choose on the basis of other grounds.

La Semana trájica: Guayaquil criminal; dad al César lo que es del César, y a Dios los que es Dios.

Mode of access: Internet.

A report from the National Hispanic Conference on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, July 28-30, 1980, Washington, D.C.

Item 968-H-1

Voto verbal del ministro Ysaias Carmona en el proceso "Sejas"; los indicios independientes constituyen la gran prueba de convicción en materia criminal.

Mode of access: Internet.

La estadistica criminal en Mexico,

At head of title: Sociedad mexicana de geografia y estadistica.

Manual de procedimientos en materia criminal para los funcionarios y agentes de policía, guardia civil, jueces y fiscales municipales juzgados de instrucción, con apéndices de distintas leyes y disposiciones vigentes /

Mode of access: Internet.

Causa criminal seguida contra el señor coronel Antonio Hidalgo, primer jefe que fue de la Brigada de Artillería Sucre, por varias infracciones.

"Dos palabras" dated Jan. 15, 1888.

Affirmative action in Salt Lake's criminal justice agencies : a report /

Includes bibliographical references.

Legal effects of use of innovative equipment at railroad-highway grade crossings on railroad's accident liability. Final report.

Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Safety, Washington, D.C.

Criminal debt collection efforts : hearing before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Fourth Congress, first session, July 19, 1995.

Shipping list no.: 96-0171-P.

Criminal justice and democracy in the Western Hemisphere.

"April 1989."

Roscoe's Digest of the law of evidence in criminal cases.

Mode of access: Internet.

Asian organized crime : the new international criminal : hearings before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Second Congress, second session, June 18 and August 4, 1992.

Shipping list no. 93-0162-P.