Factsheets on defendants' rights

CCBE project funded by the European Commission

Jonathan Goldsmith

Secretary General, CCBE

Ivo Thiemrodt

Legal Officer, European Commission

Lindsay Paterson

Project Manager, CCBE

Summary of project

Produce a set of factsheets which will appear on the e-justice portal in all EU languages

Factsheets aimed at ordinary citizens who want to know more about their rights in criminal matters

Factsheets should also be of use to lawyers but they are not the main target audience

Factsheets must be easy to read and understand Factsheets are not about describing the provisions of

the law, but about describing rights and their context

Writing style

NOT writing for lawyers but for ordinary citizens

NOT writing a legal text book but a guide to rights

Think of the ordinary client and aim the information at them

Think about the questions people from other Member States would have

Use short sentences and paragraphs

Use 'you'

Do not go into detail – don't explain why, just explain rights

See 'List of Links' for good external examples

No latin, no difficult legal terminology

Examples of writing style English translations must score 45 or more on the Flesh scale.

The court duty solicitor scheme allows a person that has already been charged with an offence to consult with and be represented by a solicitor at the Magistrates' Court on their first appearance if they do not have, or simply have not contacted, their own solicitor. The right to see the duty solicitor applies equally to those defendants who are in custody or on bail, but the right is not unlimited – if the defendant is on bail and is charged with an offence that does not carry a sentence of imprisonment the duty solicitor is not permitted to act.

Flesh score...20 =) not acceptable language. Too complex

Examples of writing style

If you don't have a solicitor or don't know how to contact one, you can be represented in court by the duty solicitor. You have a right to see the duty solicitor whether you are in custody or not. However you can only see the duty solicitor if you have been charged with an offence which is serious enough for you to be sent to prison if you are found guilty.

You can only ask for advice from the duty solicitor once for each crime that you have been charged with.

Flesh score = 60 =) OK

Difference – short sentences, simple language. Easy to read and understand.

Template – general points

Difficult to produce one document which covers all legal systems well

Template is a guide to style and content

Template sets out what rights MUST be covered

Where they are covered may vary between countries

Rely on you as experts to make it fit your jurisdiction

Keep to the factsheet structure and headings

Keep to the style

Instructions in blue are for you

Instructions in red are to site manager – repeat them in your version

Template – general points

Use Questions as headings

Answer questions in paragraph form

Use the bullets below as a guide to what to write

Do not write in bullet points unless you are writing a list

The bullet points in the template are questions to be answered not sub- headings

Example

Template says:

Where will the trial be held?

Which court will hear the case?

Will the trial be in public?

Who will decide the case...judge, jury etc.

Write

Where will the trial be held?

Most criminal cases are heard in the Magistrates' Court. However if the case is serious, like a murder, serious assault, or rape, or a financial crime involving large sums of money, then it will be held in the High Court. The trial will be in public and will be decided by a judge.....etc.....

Word counts

Word counts are critical for presentation and translation

Each factsheet must be no longer than 4 pages with 1500 characters per page

Suggested lengths are given for each factsheet

Lengths are a guide – may vary from country to country

Do not write more than 7000 words altogether

Up to you to use the words available most effectively

See sample factsheets in English for presentation

Sub-pages and hyperlinks

You can create sub-pages where you want to provide more detail about something or to avoid duplication or repetition

Use this to avoid complicating the factsheets Name sub-pages A, B, C etc and indicate

where the hyperlink to them should go Write link to sub-page A in red Eg if you often refer to 'the duty solicitor' create

a sub-page to explain what that is

Hyperlinks (continued)

If you talk about organisations such as the Legal Aid Board, the Police Complaints Authority etc. hyperlink to the web page of the organisation in the text

Add hyperlinks at the end of each factsheet to legislation in the original language and in translation if a translation exists

Do not link to individual sections/paragraphs – just to the law itself

Keep the name of the law as short as possible to save words

Links to the law will be useful to lawyers from other jurisdictions

StructureOpening page

Factsheet 1Introduction

Factsheet 2Legal Advice

Factsheet 3Investigation

Factsheet 4During the trial

Factsheet 5After the trial

Factsheet 6Minor

offences

sub-factsheetQuestioning?

sub-factsheetArrest?

sub-factsheetFirst court hearing?

SubfactsheetPreparation for trial?

sub-page?Duty solicitor

sub-page?Legal aid rules

sub-page?Legal aid rules

sub-page?Duty solicitor

sub-page?Legal aid rules

Opening page

Same look for all countries No real content – just headings for navigation List of titles linking to factsheets Create your own list of sub-factsheets under factsheet

3 (max of 6) Probably best to create this page last once you have

decided what sub-factsheets are needed

Factsheet 1Introduction to the criminal process

Same introduction for all countries Insert a bullet point summary of the basic stages of the

criminal process. No detail Same last two paragraphs for all countries More information – give links to general overviews of

the criminal law which could be useful to lawyers from other Member States

Factsheet 2Getting legal advice

Same first paragraph for all countries Purpose is to save repetition later Use hyperlinks in the text e.g. contact the Bar

Association (make all hyperlinks live) What are the basic rules for entitlement to legal aid? Add hyperlinks for detailed information This section may be expanded in the future For now, it's a general overview with links

Factsheet 3My rights during the investigation

of a crime Covers first involvement by the police until trial

Rely on you to divide up the information as appropriate

On factsheet 3, give brief overview of stages, then create sub-factsheets for each different stage

No more than 6 stages

List them so that hyperlinks can be created to the sub-factsheets

Cover all the rights listed in italics in the template

Up to you to decide where they should be covered

See sample factsheets for guidance

Factsheet 4 and 5Rights during the trial and after the trial

Cover rights during and after the trial

Focus on rights, not procedure

Remember to discuss the rights of a citizen of another Member State

In particular

need to be present, possibility of giving evidence by video etc

Possibility of being sent back to the home Member State

Factsheet 6Road traffic and other minor offences

Covers minor offences which don't always have to go to court

Particularly road traffic offences

For you to determine what kind of offences should be covered

Then to describe the rights of the accused

Important here to provide links to the administrative bodies which deal with the offences

Not much space. Up to you to prioritise

Summary

Focus on rights Write for the ordinary citizen Not about what you know but about what they

need to know Not a legal text book Produce 6 factsheets using the headings given Produce up to 6 sub factsheets for factsheet 3

Summary (continued)

Produce sub-pages for information which is repeated

Tell us where the links need to go Make external links live...ie insert a hyperlink to

the web page in question Respect the word and character counts Factsheets which do not respect word and

character counts cannot be published

Liese Katschinka

President of European Legal Interpreters and Translators Association - EULITA  

Translation Process6-eye principle

Guidance for Experts, Template

 

Step 1:

English was translated into XY language by a translator with XY as a mother tongue.

 

Step 2:

The translation was checked by a second translator/editor/revisor with XY or English as a mother tongue (completeness, terminology, style – 4-eye principle of CEN standard on translation services)).

Step 3:

The CCBE national expert was/is asked to double-check the translated text to ensure its compliance with the national situation.

(Several translators contacted the national expert already during Step 1 or Step 2 and found the consultations on terminology very helpful.) 

Result: Word count of English original and translations into XY languages showed minor to major differences need to be taken into account when writing the factsheets in the XY languages.

Word countGuidance for Experts, Template

 Guidance for experts

 

Language English Word count / character

count

Bulgarian 523 words / 2963 characters 582 words / 3653 characters

Czech 523 words / 2963 characters 495 words / 3351 characters

Danish 523 words / 2963 characters 515 words / 3388 characters

Dutch 523 words / 2963 characters 530 words / 3428 characters

Estonian 523 words / 2963 characters 423 words / 3188 characters

Finnish 523 words / 2963 characters 407 words / 3379 characters

French 523 words / 2963 characters 631 words / 3355 characters

German 523 words / 2963 characters 592 words / 4036 characters

Greek 523 words / 2963 characters 620 words / 4139 characters

Italian 523 words / 2963 characters 602 words / 3940 characters

Hungarian 523 words / 2963 characters 500 words / 3835 characters

Latvian 523 words / 2963 characters 468 words / 3374 characters

Lithuanian 523 words / 2963 characters 497 words / 3682 characters

Portuguese 523 words / 2963 characters 609 words / 3641 characters

Polish 523 words / 2963 characters 503 words / 3416 characters

Romanian 523 words / 2963 characters 556 words / 3622 characters

Slovak 523 words / 2963 characters 458 words / 2922 characters

Slovene 523 words / 2963 characters 514 words / 3277 characters

Spanish 523 words / 2963 characters 651 words / 3908 characters

Swedish 523 words / 2963 characters 504 words / 3122 characters

TemplateLanguage English Word count / character

count

Bulgarian 2,176 words / 12,164 char. 2,197 words / 13,427 char.

Czech 2,176 words / 12,164 char. 1,975 words / 12,771 char.

Danish 2,176 words / 12,164 char. 2,270 words / 14,470 char.

Dutch 2,176 words / 12,164 char. 2,232 words / 14,582 char.

Estonian 2,176 words / 12,164 char. 1,784 words / 13,562 char.

Finnish 2,176 words / 12,164 char. 1,665 words / 13,471 char.

French 2,176 words / 12,164 char. 2,463 words / 14,856 char.

German 2,176 words / 12,164 char. 2,184 words / 15,414 char.

Greek 2,176 words / 12,164 char. 2,372 words / 15,261 char.

Italian 2,176 words / 12,164 char. 2,311 words / 14,490 char.

Hungarian 2,176 words / 12,164 char. 1,895 words / 14,211 char.

Latvian 2,176 words / 12,164 char. 1,979 words / 13,478 char.

Lithuanian 2,176 words / 12,164 char. 1,955 words / 13,975 char.

Portuguese 2,176 words / 12,164 char. 2,224 words / 13,856 char.

Polish 2,176 words / 12,164 char. 2,206 words / 14,954 char.

Romanian 2,176 words / 12,164 char. 2,297 words / 14,371 char.

Slovak 2,176 words / 12,164 char. 1,930 words / 12,040 char.

Slovene 2,176 words / 12,164 char. 2,142 words / 13,421 char.

Spanish 2,176 words / 12,164 char. 2,325 words / 14,495 char.

Swedish 2,176 words / 12,164 char. 2,041 words / 13,414 char.

Factsheets

Step 1:

Translator with XY language as mother tongue will translate the factsheets into English.

 

Translation Process6-eye principle

Step 2:

The translation will be checked by a second translator/editor/revisor with English as a mother tongue (completeness, terminology, style, English language – 4-eye principle of CEN standard on translation services).

 

Step 3:

The CCBE national expert will be asked to double-check the translated text to ensure its compliance with the national situation. No need to check the English (unless major errors).

 

(Several translators may find it useful to contact the national expert already during Step 1 or Step 2; the consultations on terminology may be very helpful for the translation process.)

Attention: The word count of the English translations must also amount to a maximum total of 7000 words and the style must correlate with a Flesh Kincaid score above 45.

ATTENTION:

 

AN INTERPRETER INTERPRETS (services provided in spoken form)

A TRANSLATOR TRANSLATES (services provided in written form)

 

An interpreter may be called upon to provide an ORAL TRANSLATION = sight translation.

Verification

When completed, factsheets must be sent to Bars/Law Societies for verification

We rely on Bars/Law Societies to ensure that the guidance and template are observed

Bars/Law Societies send to Ministries for approval. We will contact Bars separately about this.

Translation into English

Verification by project team against template and Flesh score

Must follow the template and word count rules or can't be accepted

Timetable

Complete factsheets by 19 April. Send to Bars/ Law Societies

Bars approve by 3 May

Bars send to Ministries

Ministries approve/ comment by 17 May

Comments if any incorporated by 31 May. Bars send to CCBE

CCBE sends to translators

Translations completed by 12 July

Factsheets in English checked by project team

Final report submitted to Commission 16 August

Updates

Factsheets must be updated annually

Updating work likely to begin in May/June of each year for three years

Completed by September

Updates are for changes in law only

Amend on an ongoing basis throughout the year

Track changes

If no changes in law, the update budget may be used for improvements to factsheets

Peter Mc Namee

Senior Legal Advisor, CCBE