The Right of Access to a Lawyer in Criminal Proceedings: The transposition of Directive 2013/48/EU of 22 October 2013 on national legislation

This study examines the content of the right of access to a lawyer, as established in Directive 2013/48/EU, which was adopted on 22 October 2013. After noting the significance of this right, it lays out the reasons that led the European legislator to opt for uniform legislation for its protection and presents the obstacles that had to be overcome until the compromise text of the Directive could be adopted. It highlights the vagueness of certain rules of this Directive and attempts to use the non-regression clause (Article 14) in conjunction with the Recitals in order to clarify the content of the most basic provisions of the Directive. The article concludes that in this way the text of the Directive can, at least on its key points, be interpreted in such a way as to guarantee a level of protection that will not be inferior to that provided by international instruments and the jurisprudence of the ECHR.