Topic: Rights of Accused
Country: Spain
Delegate Name: Mason Adler
School: Vicksburg High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Spain position papers GLIMUN 2015 committees
Being part of the European Union, Spain follows the same principles of the rest of the European Union when it comes to the rights of those accused of crimes. Spain promises:
Interpretation and translation in court
The right to be informed of one’s rights
The right to legal advice and aid before and at trial
The right for a detained person to contact family, employers, and consular authorities
The right to protection for vulnerable suspects
The right to a Green Paper (according to Wikipedia, “a consultative document of policy proposals for debate and discussion”) upon pre-trial detention
The European Union is an advocate for human rights in general and the Court of Justice of the European Union. The Court of Justice of the European Union is one of the fairest out there. The Court of Justice of the European Union (from now on it will be referred to under the abbreviation CJEU) pushes for democratization and universal human rights. The Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy in place for 2015 through 2019 plans to improve the European Union’s activeness in spreading democracy and human rights worldwide. Seeking a more active role in the fight against tyranny and to “keep human rights at the heart of the EU agenda”, the Action Plan lists many goals of the European Union in regards to human rights, including a section on improved justice systems. By 2017 the EU plans to reform the corrupt justice systems so unfortunately prevalent in today’s world and to increase the standards of detention facilities to meet international requirements.
