Right to interpretation a leap forward for European justice

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 16th Jun 2010

The European Parliament has today passed landmark legislation that will give all EU citizens rights to interpretation and translation when they are questioned by police or tried in another EU country where they don't speak the language.

South West Euro-MP Graham Watson believes it is a great addition to the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) that he piloted through the European Parliament in 2002.

"The EAW is a valuable tool for fighting cross-border crime. But when MEPs passed the legislation, they also called for it to be backed up by certain guaranteed rights for the accused.

"It's taken a while, but the guaranteed right to translation and interpretation is a great first step. It will deliver real fairness to those who need it most and peace of mind to those of us who care about justice."

The historic vote is the first EU measure on fair trial rights and also the first EU criminal justice legislation to be negotiated under 'co-decision' with MEPs rather than decided by national ministers alone. With the UK and Ireland choosing to opt in to this measure the Interpretation Directive has the support of the full complement of 26 EU states.

Watson continued;

"I am pleased that the UK decided to take part in this initiative. It just goes to show that by "opting in" we can help safeguard our communities from crime and our rights from injustice.

"We must now build upon this to secure further guaranteed rights for suspects and their families, and also an agreement on pre-trial detention and bail."