Editing Right to silence (section)

===European Union===

Within the [[European Union]], a gradual process of [[Harmonisation of law|harmonising]] the laws of all the states of the Union has resulted in the adoption a common letter of rights that will apply to everyone across the European Union.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/justice-and-fundamental-rights/criminal-justice/rights-suspects-and-accused_en|title=Rights of suspects and accused|website=European Commission|access-date=10 April 2018}}</ref> The agreed law—also known as "the Reding Rights" taking the name of the EU Justice Commissioner [[Viviane Reding]], who has proposed and negotiated the measure to become law across the entire European Union—will mean that suspects in the European Union will once detained receive a "Letter of Rights listing their basic rights during criminal proceedings".<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/12/575&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en |title= EU-wide right to information at arrest is now law |publisher= Europa.eu |access-date= 2013-04-21 |id= ([http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2012:142:0001:0010:EN:PDF link PDF])}}</ref>

The European law ensures that people suspected of a criminal offence receive adequate information about their basic rights during criminal proceedings. These are the right to a lawyer; to be informed of the charge; to interpretation and translation for those who do not understand the language of the proceedings; the right to remain silent and to be brought promptly before a court following arrest.

In particular, the law includes five innovations:

<blockquote><poem>Suspects will be informed of their rights following the arrest;
They will be given a "letter of rights" spelling out their rights in writing;
The letter of rights will be easy to understand, without legal jargon;
It will be made available in a language the suspect understands;
It will contain practical details about the person's rights.</poem></blockquote>

These rights are contained in a ''letter of rights''—"the Reding Rights"—a printed document given to suspects after they are detained and before interrogation.<ref>{{cite web|title=European Commission Press Release – Fair trial rights: Suspects to receive a 'letter of rights' in criminal proceedings following European Parliament vote|url=http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-11-1534_en.htm?locale=en|work=European Commission|access-date=15 February 2014|date=13 December 2011}}</ref><!-- Previous statement is repetitive of earlier content in this section --> The European Union law, proposed in July 2010 by the [[European Commission]], was adopted by the [[European Parliament]] and Council in December 2011. The European Union Directive was published officially on 1 June 2012 in the Official Journal of the European Union L 142, 1 June 2012.<ref>[http://eur-lex.europa.eu/JOHtml.do?uri=OJ:L:2012:142:SOM:EN:HTML Official Journal of the European Union L 142, 1.6.2012.].</ref> It became operational across the European Union by 2 June 2014.<ref>{{cite web|title=See Article 11 in Official Journal of the European Union L 142/1: DIRECTIVE 2012/13/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 22 May 2012 on the right to information in criminal proceedings|work=Official Journal of the European Union|access-date=15 February 2014|date=1 June 2012|url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2012:142:0001:0010:EN:PDF}}</ref>