Effective Access to Defence Counsel in the Judicial Stage of Polish Criminal Proceedings in the Scope of Directives 2013/48/EU and 2016/1919/EU

The article analyses certain regulations of the Polish Code of Criminal Procedure regarding the right of the accused to access a defence counsel, limited to the stage of proceedings before a court, in the context of the provisions of the two European Union’s legal acts regarding this issue: Directive 2013/48/EU and Directive 2016/1919/EU. The provisions of the Polish CCP give the opportunity to maintain the standard of Directive 2013/48. However, the problem may occur when there is an ex officio defence counsel appointed and the court would decide to proceed in his/her absence. As for the standard arising from Directive 2016/1919, Polish provisions regarding the stage of judicial proceedings meet the European standard to a level even higher than the minimum. The only significant problem may arise from the obligation to submit an application for the appointment of an ex officio defence counsel within a specified period, but still due to specific solutions provided in Polish CCP, the standard of 2016 Directive is implemented.