(e) whether the access is granted to the lawyer or the suspected person or to both (if requested)?
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Austria
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The right is exercised by the lawyer, if the suspect has appointed one; otherwise, the suspect may exercise the right himself. The right is not granted to both lawyer and suspect at the same time.
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Belgium
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To both
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Bulgaria
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Access is granted to both.
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Croatia
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To both
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Cyprus
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As provided by article 7(1) of the Criminal Procedure Law (Capital 155) the documents are granted to any person who is arrested and detained and/or his/her lawyer.
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Czech Republic
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Both the accused and his lawyer have the right to access the file.
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Estonia
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Copy of the case file is submitted to the defence counsel. It is up to the defence counsel to submit the materials to the suspect or the accused (§ 2241 of CCP).
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Finland
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Access is granted to both, but only one copy of the material is free of charge.
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France
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Both the lawyer and the accused person (article 63-4-1).
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Germany
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Greece
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Both – to the counsel, if authorized.
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Hungary
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Both.
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Ireland
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The judge in the District Court will always enquire as to whether a person is legally represented. If the person is not represented they will enquire as to their means and advise the person of their entitlement to free legal aid if it arises. It would be fatal to any proceedings if a person was not appraised of their right to be legally represented and any conviction that followed would be vulnerable to challenge in the higher Court.
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Italy
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yes, both. In particular, it is provided the access to audiofiles when interception of conversations have taken place during investigations
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Latvia
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To both.
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Lithuania
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To both, if requested.
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Luxembourg
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To both
The suspected person may request to consult his file either at the office of the instructing judge, either he may ask to have the file transferred in prison and a supervision is done while he consults it.
But a very uncomfortable point is that till the end of the investigating period the lawyer has no possibility to go through the file together with the person he assists, and this due to the fact that he is not in possession of a material copy.
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Malta
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Both
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Poland
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As it has been already indicated above, the access either to files of criminal proceedings before the court or to files of preparatory proceedings is available to suspects, their defence lawyers, their proxies and their statutory representatives. On the grounds of the Article 156 § 5 CCP, the right of access to files in the course of preparatory proceedings can be exercised by the parties (so, inter alia, by a suspect) also after the conclusion of preparatory proceedings. (In the mentioned context, the law-maker doesn’t enumerate clearly other subjects like a suspect’s defence lawyers, his or her proxies, his or her statutory representatives). In turn, on the basis 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.
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Portugal
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The access is granted to the lawyer and not always to the suspected. It should be noted that the access is limited during the questioning until person is formally accused.
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Romania
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Slovakia
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Both.
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Slovenia
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The access is granted is granted to both.
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Spain
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Normally, the file is only shown to the lawyer.
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Sweden
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There is no uniform practice regarding this. Material is primarily provided to the lawyer, if appointed. On request, a copy is normally also provided to the suspected person. In cases with extensive investigation material, a copy is generally offered both to the lawyer and the suspected person.
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The Netherlands
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The files are only provided once. If a suspect has a lawyer, the lawyer receives the file and he is sup-posed to provide his client with a copy and discuss the file with his client.
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UK
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England and Wales
See the answer to (a).
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Scotland
If the accused is represented by a defence solicitor, then the information is disclosed directly to the solicitor. If the accused has chosen to defend himself, then access to the information is facilitated.
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Northern Ireland
either Lawyer of Suspect not both
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(f) whether access is granted free of charge? if not or only partially, which costs arise?
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Austria
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Access is granted free of charge. However there are charges for copies (unless the suspect is eligible for legal aid; in case of detention until the first hearing; for expert opinions), which presently amount to the following sums:
- in case of paper copies: 63 cents per page; 32 cents if the copy is made without using resources of the court (e.g. by taking a picture with a digital camera).
- in case of electronic transmission: 32 cents per file.
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Belgium
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Free of charges
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Bulgaria
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Access is granted free of charge. This is not explicitly provided for by the law. Thus, the importance of this requirement of the Directive is somewhat underestimated at the normative level. In my view, in order to reinforce the significance of the “free of charge” requirement, it is necessary to amend CPC by introducing the relevant rule. Anyway, in practice access is always provided free of charge.
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Croatia
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Access is granted free of charge, but copy of every paper cost 1,00 HRK.
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Cyprus
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According to article 7(2) of the Criminal Procedure Law (Capital 155) If summon or warrant issued according to article 44 (summon or warrant for compelling attendance) of the Criminal Procedure Law (Capital 155) is served to the defendant, he/she has the right, with a written request submitted to the prosecution, to have free of charge access to statements and documents gathered during the investigation of the case concerning the criminal offence brought before the Court.
In case that the defendant applies in writing to be provided with copies of these material, the fee that is paid, is determined by the Chief of Police with the approval of Minister of Justice and Public Order.
Additionally, according to the Law that provides for the Interpretation and Translation during the Criminal Proceedings (L. 18(I)/2014), if the suspect or accused person does not understand the language of the criminal proceedings the competent authority ensures that, within a reasonable period of time, the accused or suspect is provided with written translation of all documents that are essential to ensure that they are able to exercise their right to defense and to safeguard the fairness of the proceedings. The Republic of Cyprus meets all costs of the translation provided by the Law.
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Czech Republic
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The access is free of charge.
The accused bears the costs for any copies made.
See answer (d) for practical arrangement how the copies of the file are made.
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Estonia
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Copy of case file is provided free of charge.
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Finland
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See previous answer.
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France
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It is free of charges.
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Germany
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Greece
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Never in practice access is given free of charge, even if the accused has a low income. The cost depends on many factors (e.g. court, the size of the file, etc.). Indicatively, in Athens, the cost of obtaining copies is 0,08 Euros per one-sided page. Usually photocopies are made by individuals operating in the courts. However, the counsel may study the file printed in the department where it is kept without obtaining copies (par. 1, Article 101 of the Greek Code of Criminal Proceedings.
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Hungary
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One copy per person is free of charge.
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Ireland
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Where legal aid is granted it covers the entire cost and no contribution is thereafter sought from the accused. Regularly political persons suggest that legal aid is too freely granted and have suggested that there should be a facility for reclaiming the cost of legal aid from persons who are convicted. That is not however yet part of our law.
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Italy
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The access is granted free of charge. The copy of the materials (paper, electronic copies, audio or video files costs a lot and they are free of charge only in case the accused person is entitled to and has already be granted the scheme of legal aid
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Latvia
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Free of charge.
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Lithuania
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The access itself is free of charge. If a suspect or an accused person asks for a copy of any particular material, then he/she is obliged to pay for it.
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Luxembourg
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Access and delivery of a copy are free of charges and costs
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Malta
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Free of charge save expert documentation costs
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Poland
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The access to materials of criminal proceedings – understood as a possibility to review documents which have been gathered in files, to make own notes or own copies of such documents and so on – is free of charge. If an entitled person (a suspect, an accused, a defence lawyer, a proxy or a statutory representative or even other entitled subject) lodges a motion for delivery him or her by the competent authority of the criminal proceedings copies or certified copies of documents included in files of criminal proceedings, such copies or certified copies aren’t free of charge.
Only the parties of the criminal proceedings (i.e. also a suspect or an accused) are entitled to obtain, on their demand, a one free of charge certified copy of every decision in criminal proceedings which directly refers to such parties. The certified copy of a decision is delivered together with its written reasons if such reasons were made (Article 157 § 1 CCP). According to the Ordinance of the Minister of Justice of the 2nd of June, 2003 concerning the level of charges for delivery of copies of documents and certified copies from files of criminal cases (Journal of Laws of the 24th of June, 2003, No. 107, item 1006), the charge for delivery of copies of documents is 1 PLN (i.e. about 0,25€) for one page of a copy and the charge for delivery of certified copies from files of a criminal case is 6 PLN (i.e. about 1,50€) for each page.
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Portugal
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Only partially with costs to the defence.
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Romania
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Slovakia
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Access itself is free of charge, making duplicates (paper copies) might be charged.
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Slovenia
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The access is free. Copies of the material from the court file should be paid at a certain tariff set by the Ministry of Justice.
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Spain
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Is free of charge.
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Sweden
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Access to material is granted free of charge.
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The Netherlands
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Files are always provided free of charge by either the prosecutor or the court's clerk.
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UK
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England and Wales
See the answer to (a).
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Scotland
Material is provided free of charge.
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Northern Ireland
First copy free and duplicates will be charged for.
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