Source: Fair Trials International

Fair Trials’ interactive map shows the varying standards of defence rights across Europe. Teodora Godinca-Herlea, a Romanian lawyer and participant in our Young Defenders training programme, writes about what this means for her clients:

In any criminal justice system the initial period after arrest is extremely important. It is a well-known principle of human rights law, backed up by the Romanian Criminal Procedure Code, that suspects should not be held for longer than necessary. The Code says that prosecutors only have the power to detain a suspect for 24 hours, which can then be extended by a judge (in 30 day increments to a maximum of 180 days) before a charge is made.

A common problem we encounter is that of defining when these 24 hours begin. In practice, prosecutors do not include the time between when a suspect is brought into office, and when detention is officially ordered. This might seem to be a small matter, but in some cases we are dealing with up to 20 hours (it’s common for police to arrive at a suspect’s house at 6am and he or she can often wait hours in the police station before being told of the accusation).

In practice, my colleagues and I have succeeded in convincing the Chief Prosecutor to count from when the suspect arrives at the police station. However, the period before arrival (when the suspect is effectively detained in their house) has never been considered a limitation of liberty. This provision, Article 144, is one of the more criticised of the Romanian Criminal Procedure Code.

These initial 24 hours of detention can be very problematic for defence lawyers. The case file and evidence, which can total thousands of pages, are usually withheld right up until the moment when the judge is ready to consider the proposal to detain.

Communication with clients is not confidential: before the initial hearing, we can only talk to our clients in the presence of “surveillance” police officers. The door must be kept open and there is usually another police officer outside.

It is very common for judges to order pre-trial detention and alternatives to detention are rarely used. On the plus side, pre-trial detention in Romania rarely exceeds more than 3 months. It is quite common, though, for prosecutors to use this as a way of obtaining a confession, or persuading a suspect to testify. Keep in mind that Romanian detention facilities are seen as some of the most degrading in Europe and you can therefore surely imagine the pressure to comply with prosecutors.