Currently, Polish law does not give those being investigated in a misdemeanor case the right to meet with counsel while the case is under investigation, nor do the regulations allow the defendant to access the files of the proceedings against them. Last week, Poland's Constitutional Court deemed those regulations unconstitutional.

In its ruling, the Constitutional Court pointed to the fact that the Polish Constitution guarantees defendants in all penal cases the right to defense in all stages of the proceedings. The Court continued by stating that in many instances the constitutional right to defense is to be understood more broadly than it currently is.

In criminal proceedings, access to counsel was granted only at the stage of court proceedings, and not during the prior investigation stage. Moreover, the Polish Ombudsman, in reporting on the case through a joint cognizance with the court, pointed to a more general problem of a lack of regulations for accessing case files during the investigation stage.

During the case, an amicus curiae opinion was authored by, among others, the Open Society Justice Initiative. The organization emphasized that the current rules on misdemeanor proceedings are a serious violation of the right to due process, guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights, The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and other internationally recognized treaties and documents.

As a part of the Stockholm Programme, the European Union has passed a series of directives aimed at raising the standards of proceedings for suspected and accused people, as well as the victims of crimes. The Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings obliges the member states to provide defendants with access to an attorney during every stage of proceedings, including before the first interrogation. The law encompasses misdemeanor cases.

"The EU member states are obliged to provide a meaningful right for defense in misdemeanor and penal proceedings," says Irmina Pancho, a lawyer for the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. "The Constitutional Court's judgment demonstrates the implementation of Directive on misdemeanor cases. The deadline for its full implementation by EU member states is November 27, 2016."

The case has been followed by Zaza Namoradze, director of the Open Society Justice Initiative's Budapest office.