Justice

Justice, victims’ rights and judicial cooperation

Your access to justice is a fundamental right. It is central to making your other rights a reality.

It protects rights of the individual. It puts right civil wrongs. It holds power to account. We shine a light on obstacles to access to justice. And we give evidence-based advice on overcoming them.

Highlights

  • Report / Paper / Summary
    7
    March
    2024
    Tackling greenwashing is an issue where human rights, consumer rights and climate goals align. Companies use greenwashing to convince people to buy products that are not always as environmentally friendly as they claim to be. They mislead consumers and harm the environment. This report shows how a human rights approach can combat greenwashing. It is based on consultations with experts in 10 Member States. The report identifies gaps in existing laws and enforcement. It includes case studies of consumers seeking remedies for misleading environmental claims. The EU and Member States should enforce rules that make it harder for companies to make misleading environmental claims. They should strengthen rules that make it easier for consumers to prove that companies are greenwashing. Consumer and environmental organisations already hold governments and business to account. Governments should make it easier to use collective action for the protection of consumer rights and the environment.
  • Report / Paper / Summary
    26
    March
    2024
    The European Arrest Warrant (EAW) allows Member States to implement judicial decisions issued in another Member State. It applies to decisions such as arrests for the purpose of criminal prosecutions or the execution of custodial sentences. After being in force for over 20 years, FRA’s findings provide evidence for an assessment of the legislation in practice. This report looks at the fundamental rights challenges that people face who are requested through an EAW. It provides a unique insight into their experiences and those of the professionals involved. FRA’s findings indicate that shared challenges exist across EU Member States. They must increase efforts to ensure that people are able to take part in criminal proceedings and receive a fair trial.
  • Report / Paper / Summary
    21
    June
    2022
    Every child has a right to be protected even when they are accused or suspected of committing a crime. The basic principles of justice apply to adults and children alike. But children face specific obstacles during criminal proceedings, such as a lack of understandable information about their rights, limited legal support and poor treatment. The report looks at the practical implementation of Directive (EU) 2016/800 on procedural safeguards for children who are suspects or accused persons in criminal proceedings in nine Member States – Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Estonia, Italy, Malta, Poland and Portugal.
  • Handbook / Guide / Manual
    22
    June
    2016
    Access to justice is an important element of the rule of law. It enables individuals to protect themselves against infringements of their rights, to remedy civil wrongs, to hold executive power accountable and to defend themselves in criminal proceedings. This handbook summarises the key European legal principles in the area of access to justice, focusing on civil and criminal law.
Products
10
December
2012
In relation to the European Commission proposal for a Directive on the freezing and confiscation of proceeds of crime in the European Union, the European Parliament requested advice from FRA on the extent to which confiscation of proceeds of crime could go without breaching fundamental rights.
6
December
2012
The European Union (EU) and its Member States have undertaken many legislative and non-legislative initiatives in recent years to improve the situation of victims of crime, while work to promote the rights of victims is still ongoing. Some of the key concerns in the field include the role of the victim in criminal proceedings and facilitating access to criminal justice systems: in other words, ensuring that victims are recognised as persons with rights. These rights should be respected and safeguarded by the criminal justice system.
6
December
2012
The principle of non-discrimination is firmly established in European Union (EU) legislation and includes provisions relating to access to justice. This report examines the process of seeking redress in cases of discrimination. It provides a detailed analysis of what the EU Member State bodies that deal with cases of discrimination do to support possible victims of discrimination and to offer them redress. It examines the factors obstructing effective remedies, such as the complexity of the complaints system, which discourage people from bringing cases and reinforce victims’ feelings of helplessness
December
2012
The principle of non-discrimination is firmly established in European Union (EU) legislation and includes provisions relating to access to justice. This factsheet provides an overview of the policy context and key issues from the FRA report on 'Access to justice in cases of discrimination in the EU – Steps to further equality'
27
November
2012
Despite EU Member States’ efforts to combat discrimination and intolerance, including hate crime, there are indications that the situation is not improving. Continued and renewed violations of the fundamental rights of people living within the EU have instead been witnessed over the past few years, through verbal abuse, physical attacks or even murders motivated by prejudice.
27
November
2012
Discrimination and intolerance persist in the European Union (EU) despite the best efforts of Member States to root them out, FRA research shows. Verbal abuse, physical attacks and murders motivated by prejudice target EU society in all its diversity, from visible minorities to those with disabilities. This FRA report is designed to help the EU and its Member States to tackle these fundamental rights violations both by making them more visible and bringing perpetrators to account.
27
November
2012
This EU-MIDIS Data in focus report 6 presents data on respondents’ experiences of victimisation across five crime types: theft of or from a vehicle; burglary or attempted burglary; theft of personal property not involving force or threat (personal theft); assault or threat; and serious harassment. The European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey (EU-MIDIS) is the first EU-wide survey to ask 23,500 individuals with an ethnic and minority background about their experiences of discrimination and criminal victimisation in everyday life.
20
June
2012
This publication was originally published in 2012 as part of the FRA Annual Report: Fundamental rights: challenges and achievements in 2011.
20
June
2012
This year‘s summary of the FRA Annual report – Highlights 2011 – chronicles the positive developments made in 2011 as well as the challenges facing the EU and its Member States in the field of fundamental rights, drawing on objective, reliable and comparable socio-legal data.
23
March
2011
This report provides an EU-wide comparative analysis of the effectiveness of access to justice, across the EU Member States. Launched on 23 March at the conference "Protecting victims in the EU: the road ahead" hosted in Budapest by the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU with the support of the FRA, the report emphasises obstacles making it difficult for victims to enforce their rights.
8
December
2011
The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights held its annual Fundamental Rights Conference 'Dignity and rights of irregular migrants' in Warsaw on 21-22 November 2011. This paper summarises the discussions that took place during the conference and presents follow-up activities to be undertaken by FRA.
1
September
2011
The Fundamental Rights Conference, the flagship annual event of the FRA, focused in 2010 on ensuring justice and protection for all children, including those who are most vulnerable. This report summarises the speeches, discussion and common conclusions and issues identified during the conference.
15
June
2011
2010 marked the first year the European Union (EU) operated on the basis of a legally binding bill of rights - the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU. This year's annual report of the European Agency for Fundamental Rights puts the spotlight on the achievements and challenges of the EU and its Member States as they strive to inject robust life into their fundamental rights commitments.
20
June
2012
To secure and safeguard the fundamental rights of everyone in the European Union (EU), the EU and its 27 Member States pressed forward with a number of initiatives in 2011. This report chronicles the positive developments made in 2011 as well as the challenges facing the EU and its Member States in the field of fundamental rights.
21
November
2011
International and European human rights law impose an obligation on EU Member States to guarantee human rights to all individuals within their jurisdiction. This includes irregular migrants.
23
March
2011
According to international and European human rights law, EU Member States must guarantee everyone the right to go to court, or to an alternative dispute resolution body, and to obtain a remedy when their rights are violated. This factsheet provides information on access to justice, focusing on non-discrimination law, excluding criminal law.

23
February
2011
On 14 February 2011, as requested by the European Parliament, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) issued an opinion on the draft directive regarding the European Investigation Order (EIO) in criminal matters. The draft directive, aimed at mutual recognition of warrants for both existing and new evidence, is intended to replace an existing ‘fragmented regime' with a more comprehensive legislative instrument.
13
September
2010
This factsheet summarises the main points of the two reports 'Access to effective remedies: The asylum-seeker perspective' and 'The duty to inform applicants about asylum procedures: The asylum-seeker perspective'.
13
September
2010
A fair asylum procedure is one where applicants know their rights and duties, and where they understand its different stages. The right to be informed at decisive moments of the procedure is an important element of procedural fairness. Drawing on evidence from interviews with almost 900 asylum seekers, this report examines the information that asylum seekers have on the asylum procedure. In particular, it looks at the main source of information for asylum seekers, which type of information they receive, and when and how they receive it.