(c) the quality and quantity of material provided?
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Austria
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The file including all the evidence must be provided. However, some exceptions may apply.
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Belgium
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For suspect NOT deprived of liberty : the magistrate in charge of the investigation may limit the scope of the investigation file he grants access to, or grant a full access.
For suspect deprived of liberty : the magistrate in charge of the investigation may NOT limit the scope of the investigation file he grants access, so it is the entire and complete investigation file that the suspect and his lawyer may see.
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Bulgaria
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Access is provided to all the materials collected with no exceptions and for a time as long as needed by the accused person and her/his lawyer to get acquainted with them for the sake of the effective exercise of the rights of the defence. The accused person and her/his lawyer are allowed to take notes on the materials without any limitations. During the trial stage of proceedings the accused person and her/his lawyer are free to receive, upon their request, copies of each one of the materials collected and no matter how numerous these materials may be. This holds true as regards both national law and practice.
An example of good legislative approach and practice going beyond the requirements of the Directive: Bulgarian law does not provide for the derogations in the meaning of Article 7.4 of the Directive and they never apply in practice. Access is granted to all the materials collected with no limitations whatsoever, both in the pre-trial and the trial stage of proceedings.
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Croatia
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The file including all the evidences must be provided.
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Cyprus
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The suspect or accused has access to all the statements and documents gathered during the investigation of the case concerning the criminal offence brought before the Court.
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Czech Republic
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See answer (a).
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Estonia
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Usually access to materials is granted by way of handing over a copy of the criminal file, which contains all documents prepared during pre-trial investigation, as well as all pieces of evidence relevant to the case. In some cases, the amount of materials can be tens of thousands of pages.
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Finland
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I’m not sure I understand the question, but the suspect receives one copy of all the material included in the pre-trial investigation (police) report.
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France
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*see above
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Germany
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Greece
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Copies of the whole file are provided, except for the occasions under par. 3 of Article 101 of the Greek Code of Criminal Proceedings, as previously described in detail.
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Hungary
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See above.
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Ireland
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In the preponderance of cases which are dealt with by a judge alone in the District Court the material provided is limited to the statements of intended prosecution witnesses. Fuller disclosure is more generally a feature in more serious cases tried in the higher Courts before a judge and jury.
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Italy
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Everything requested
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Latvia
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After completion of a pre-trial criminal proceedings or when the case is closed access to the material is provided fully, except the occasion when the material contains state secret or sensitive personal information (like address of person, information about health).
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Lithuania
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In practise, usually the documents related directly to the suspect are being provided to him/her (questioning of the suspect, search of his/her premises, etc.). Meanwhile, the documents that are provided to the suspect are not of a sufficient quality to effectively challenge the legal and factual grounds of the suspicion.
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Luxembourg
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Depends on the quality of the investigating file.
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Malta
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As above
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Poland
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The Article 156 § 1 CCP states about the files of the criminal case in proceedings before the court and it doesn’t limit for entitled persons the scope of this files. In turn, the Article 156 § 1a CCP states about the files of the preparatory proceedings in the scope they were not submitted to the court. The Article 156 § 4 states that if there appears a danger to reveal classified information (confidential or strict confidential) persons who review the files and prepare their copies shall take into account conditions and demands determined by the president of the court or by the court. By the way, certified copies of such files are not delivered to the interested persons. According to the Article 156 § 5 CCP, the files of preparatory proceedings are available to parties of the criminal proceedings (as well as their defence lawyers, proxies and statutory representatives) if it is not excluded by the necessity to safeguard the appropriate (correct) course of the proceedings or to protect the vital interest of the state. In the light of the Article 156 § 5a CCP if in the course of preparatory proceedings a motion to apply or to extend the temporary arrest is lodged, a suspect and his or her defence lawyer shall have a prompt access to the files of the criminal case in the area of materials including evidences presented in the aforementioned motion. So, the specific procedural situation (a stage of proceedings and its concrete circumstances) may determine the scope of the access to the materials of a criminal case. Sometimes it will be wide, including all materials of the criminal proceedings, and sometimes it will be limited, regarding only certain materials or certain way of their processing. The interested and entitled person could have the access to such documents like: decisions and orders regarding such person, minutes concerning the proceedings to take evidence and attachments to such minutes, public and private documents, opinions of experts.
These standards are accepted and kept in practice. No provisions concern the quality (technical quality) of materials which are provided to entitled persons. In practice the general opinion is that such quality is sufficient and acceptable, though it happens that a quality of certain materials is – frankly speaking – lame.
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Portugal
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Several times it is difficult to access to the materials, because it is a profusion of materials and it is necessary to consult it at the court of justice.
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Romania
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Slovakia
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Complete files of the investigation, including evidence and data collected during investigation, except for the voting report and those sections of the report that contain data on the identity of an undercover agent. Undisclosed materials, bank secret, commercial secret, tax secret, post and telecommunication secrets must be respected.
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Slovenia
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All the evidential material is provided in the form (i.e. quality and quantity) that the court has it too.
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Spain
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Once the case is in Court, the access is full. In Police Station is difficult to get that access, and once you get it, this access is restricted (i.e. it is not possible to make copies of the documents, so the lawyer has to read it on the spot).
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Sweden
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Preliminary investigation
As outlined under Question 4 (a)-(b) the material itself is usually not made available to the suspect during an ongoing investigation. In situations where access to material is granted, the quantity of the material differs depending on the circumstances of the case.
The material made available to the suspected person before the prosecutor decides on prosecution shall consist of all matters of importance to the investigation.
As mentioned above the suspect is entitled to a copy of the record of the preliminary investigation after a decision on prosecution has been made. This copy consists of the same material that the prosecutor has submitted to the court together with the indictment.
The suspect and the lawyer may request access to any such additional material of the investigation that has been left out from the record of the preliminary investigation
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The Netherlands
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See the answer to (b) above.
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UK
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England and Wales
See the answer to (a).
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Scotland
All relevant material (as defined in the Act – discussed above) must be disclosed. There is accordingly no limit to the quantity of material which may require to be disclosed – each case will be considered individually.
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Northern Ireland
At Court- anything that the prosecution seek to rely on. After Defence Statement (setting out what the defendant’s case is and why they are denying the allegation) is served, any material the police hold which would assist the defence must also be provided.
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(d) the way in which the access is granted (e.g. paper format, electronic format)?
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Austria
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In general, the suspect can see and read the actual file. This right includes the right to obtain copies of all documents (however, a fee may be requested). Access may be granted electronically as well. In practice, lawyers often get the file by means of secure electronic communication.
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Belgium
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Paper or electronic format
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Bulgaria
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Access is granted in paper format. Access is also granted to all pieces of material evidence collected during the proceedings.
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Croatia
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The access is granted in paper format.
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Cyprus
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The person arrested or his/her lawyer is granted a copy of the documents mentioned above. The copy of the documents is given in paper format. In case there are photographs the defence lawyer is given a copy of the CD and a hard copy of the photographs. In case of a video or audio recording the defence lawyer is given a copy of the CD.
In my opinion all the material of the case should be given to the suspect or the accused and/or his/her lawyer free of charge in electronic format unless otherwise requested by the accused so that we can ensure an efficient and speedy criminal trial.
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Czech Republic
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It is provided in a paper format.
Data stored e. g. on DVDs only (due to the big volume) are indeed provided also only on DVDs.
In practice attorneys are taking photos of the paper file (via a camera or a mobile phone) or making a scan of it via a scanner.
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Estonia
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As a general rule, access is granted by handing over an electronic copy of the criminal file. The electronic copy is essentially a scanned copy of paper file, saved in a series of PDF-format files burned to CD or DVD disk(s).
Defence counsel can submit a reasoned request for a paper copy. This is usually done when the defendant is in custody, because reviewing an electronic copy at a detention facility is difficult due to technical and organisational problems (lack of sufficient number of suitable computers, etc).
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Finland
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It varies. Still today, most of the police reports are delivered in paper format. However, in larger cases it is quite customary that the material is delivered on a CD-ROM or DVD.
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France
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Only a visual access to limited and minor information is granted according to article 63-4-1.
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Germany
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Greece
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It depends on the evidence. For example, the documents are obtained in hard copy with the diligence of the accused or his/her counsel.
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Hungary
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According to the decision of the accused (paper or electronic).
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Ireland
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Invariably the material is supplied in paper format. It is the case however that where the material is itself electronic for instance audio-visual recordings, CCTV, etc. that will be provided in an electronic format.
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Italy
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Both
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Latvia
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After completion of a pre-trial criminal proceedings – in paper format as a copy, when the case is closed – person is entitled to get acquainted wiht the material, but a copy is not issued.
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Lithuania
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Usually it is paper format.
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Luxembourg
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The lawyer has to consult the file in a room at the office of the investigating judge.
No privacy is guaranteed during the consultation of the file because other lawyers are also present in order to consult their case files.
This is a very regrettable situation.
Formerly at the investigation office at the Tribunal d’arrondissement of Diekirch (North of the Country) it was absolutely understood by judicial authorities, and totally normal for every one, that the lawyer could ask and obtain a material copy of the complete file (paper format) and this copy was immediately send to his office, free of any charge.
But the chamber of council from the court of appeal in Luxemburg abolished this right to obtain a copy for what ever reason, nobody really knows.
The public prosecutor on the other hand has the possibility to get permanent access to the file.
This brings up a problem of “inegality of arms” concerning the access of the file, and in a wider view concerning the preparation of defence.
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Malta
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As required
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Poland
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Although there aren’t formal obstacles to grant the access to the materials of the criminal proceedings in electronic format, the interpretation of the provisions of the Article 156 CCP and the dominating reality in the field of preparing files of the proceedings in criminal cases in Poland lead to the conclusion that materials of the criminal cases are made available by the competent authorities generally in paper formats. The common practical standard is that the entitled persons have the access to paper documents from the files of the proceedings before the court (as well as – in a proper scope – to paper documents from the files of the preparatory proceedings) and they can prepare their own copies of such documents (preparation of copies includes also preparation of digital copies). (One marginal remark may be done - a digitalization of files of criminal proceedings still isn’t the standard resulting from regulations of law concerning criminal proceedings).
However if the activities of criminal proceedings are recorded, persons having the right of access to the files of the proceedings (to materials of a criminal case) shall have also possibility of access not only to paper minutes of such activities but equally to video and audio recordings of the activities (which are attachments to the minutes). The known practice in Poland generally respects this standard (obviously if it is technically possible in places where the right of access to materials is exercised).
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Portugal
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The access to the material is granted in paper format, but not all the materials.
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Romania
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Slovakia
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Paper format.
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Slovenia
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The access is granted in paper format.
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Spain
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Paper format, but in big procedures, it is possible to get it on electronical means.
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Sweden
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Material of the investigation is generally delivered in paper format. In cases with extensive investigation material, the lawyer is usually given the opportunity to receive the material in electronic format e.g. CD-ROM, USB memory stick.
The prosecuting authority as well as the courts have routines for sending the material via e-mail.
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The Netherlands
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In so far as a request has been filed, the file is provided by mail in hard copy. Only on request and only in large investigations where specialized investigative teams are working a digital copy is provided.
However as far as digitizing is concerned progress is being made. In some districts digitalization has made much progress. Depending on the district where the criminal case will be brought before court part of the files are provided to the lawyer via a "lawyer's portal". The prosecution decides which files will be provided digitally. The bar does not have any influence on this choice. Though as a rule the files should be provided at least 6 weeks prior to the court hearing, it is no exception that they are delivered only a week or a few days before the court hearing takes place.
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UK
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England and Wales
See the answer to (a).
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Scotland
Material is disclosed via a secure database, where is downloaded and printed by defence solicitors.
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Northern Ireland
Paper
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