The Practice of Pre-Trial Detention: Monitoring Alternatives and Judicial Decision-Making (2014-2016)

The HHC has been an implementing partner organization of Fair Trials in the project titled “The Practice of Pre-Trial Detention: Monitoring Alternatives and Judicial Decision-Making”, with funding from the European Commission, which aimed to provide a unique evidence-base about how pre-trial detention is being used in practice in 10 Member States of the European Union.

In the framework of the project, the HHC gathered data on the domestic pre-trial decision-making process and the use of alternatives through surveying of over 30 defence practitioners, monitoring detention hearings, reviewing the case files of 116 criminal cases at seven research sites, and conducting interviews with 5 prosecutors and 10 judges.

The country-specific report on the use of pre-trial detention in Hungary, comparing Hungarian practice with domestic law and international standards, is available here in English and in Hungarian:

• The Practice of Pre-Trial Detention: Monitoring Alternatives and Judicial Decision-Making
• Az előzetes letartóztatás gyakorlata: az alternatív kényszerintézkedések és a bírói döntéshozatal vizsgálata

Country reports concerning the other Member States participating in the project are available on the website of Fair Trials. The regional report produced by Fair Trials on the results of the international research project, featuring also recommendations in relation to pre-trial detention, is available here:

• A Measure of Last Resort? The practice of pre-trial detention decision making in the EU

A summary document on the key findings of the study “A Measure of Last Resort?” is available here. A short film produced in the framework of the project, giving a voice to three people from across Europe who have been affected by the unjustified and excessive use of pre-trial detention may be viewed here.

The project is funded by the Criminal Justice Programme of the European Commission.