Strengthening the rights of persons suspected or accused of crime through National Human Rights Institutions

2026-07-22

Objectives - Contribute to an effective and coherent application of EU law on the rights of persons suspected or accused of crime across the EU - Raise the awareness of relevant EU law among NHRIs and improve their overall knowledge of European standards on the rights of accused and suspects - Collect good practices and innovative ideas and provide concrete guidance on how NHRIs can use EU law (in connection with national and international law) to strengthen the rights of persons suspected or accused of crime, and contribute to its effective and coherent implementation at the national level - Strengthen mutual learning, exchange and cooperation among NHRIs across the EU, between NHRIs and EU institutions, and between NHRIs and national stakeholders Activities - Analytical activities (collection of data, survey, research) - Mutual learning, exchange of good practices, developing of working methods for NHRIs - Capacity building for professionals - Facilitating cooperation between NHRIs, EU agencies and practitioners - Dissemination and awareness raising Beneficiaries - NHRIs or equivalent bodies from 26 EU MSs - Defence lawyers, CSOs from AT, HU, PL, and SI (25 per MS) - Suspected and accused persons Expected results - A better understanding, increased and more consistent use of the EU law and policies in the area of the rights of accused and suspected of crime by NHRIs - Development of good practices, concrete examples, and working methods on how NHRIs could best strengthen their role in the promotion and protection of the rights of persons suspected or accused of crime at the national and EU level - Strengthened cooperation between NHRIs across the EU, as well as between NHRIs and other relevant stakeholders in the area of criminal justice. Outputs - Baseline Study (in EN; translations in HU, SI) - National Reports for AT, HU, PL and SI (in EN; translation in PL) - Two EU-wide conferences - Four National Workshops - Guidebook (in EN; translations in HU, PL, SI)

Austria, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia

2026-01-15