From the Brussels office

IP: Parliament backs criminal sanctions

A proposal from the European Commission to criminalise commercial scale infringements of intellectual property rights and to set minimum levels of criminal sanctions across the EU was largely approved by the European Parliament on 24 April. The Parliament decided to focus the measure on cases of counterfeiting and piracy, and remove patents from its scope. Following a seminal ruling of the European Court of Justice from September 2005, this is the first time that the Commission has proposed a directive prescribing levels of criminal sanctions. According to the directive, member states would have to provide maximum prison sentences of at least four years and fines of up to at least 300,000 euro for the most serious offences. The proposal is also being examined by member states, some of which remain sceptical about its legal base in the Treaties.

Fair trial rights: decision time

Justice Ministers met on 19-20 April regarding the procedural safeguards proposal, a framework decision designed to put in place minimum standards for suspects and defendants in criminal proceedings. Presented in April 2004, the proposal has caused controversy in the Council of Ministers as some member states do not believe the EU has the jurisdiction to deal with these measures. Others believe that there needs to be strong evidence that the proposal offers “added value” compared to the European Convention on Human Rights.
The original proposed comprehensive package of rights is long gone and the ministers were presented with two alternatives. The first was a pared-down version of the original proposal, limited to general provisions on the right to information, the right to legal assistance free of charge, the right to interpretation and the right to translation of documents. The second was a binding framework decision limited so that it would only be applicable in cross-border cases involving a European arrest warrant. Despite being a German Presidency priority, no agreement was reached by ministers and it will now be up to Justice Ministers at the Council to make progress.