The Hungarian Helsinki Committee is a partner in the international project “Strengthening procedural rights in criminal proceedings: effective implementation of the right to a lawyer/legal aid under the Stockholm Programme”, coordinated by the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee. 

The project, launched in June 2016 and funded by the European Union, aims to increase understanding of the shortcomings and dysfunctions in each national criminal law framework on the issues addressed by Directive 2013/48/EU on the right of access to a lawyer and Recommendation C(2013) 8179/2 on the right to legal aid among key stakeholders in 5 EU jurisdictions, and to identify and promote examples of transferable good practice. The project also aims to facilitate communication and coordination between legal practitioners and to build and strengthen the capacity of stakeholders on the international and EU standards on the rights to access to a lawyer and legal aid of suspects and accused in criminal proceedings.

Activities include the reviewing of 150 criminal case files per country, conducting interviews with stakeholders, and holding capacity-building workshops for legal professionals. 

This project is funded by the European Union.