EU Commission sues Poland over suspects' access to lawyers

The European Commission has referred Poland to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for failing to correctly implement European Union law on the right of access to a lawyer and to communicate upon arrest.

According to the commission, Warsaw does not sufficiently secure procedural safeguards at early stages of police investigations, a press release published on Thursday said.

"Poland allows questioning or the gathering of relevant evidence to proceed without a lawyer, which is in breach of the strict rules on the right of access to a lawyer," the statement read.

Additionally, "Polish law allows the confidentiality of the communication between suspects or accused persons and their lawyer to be disrespected," even though EU law guarantees confidentiality.

Warsaw has also failed to appropriately inform parents or legal guardians of the detention of minors as well as to correctly provide access to a lawyer in European arrest warrant proceedings, the commission said.

Poland can face hefty fines if the ECJ upholds the complaint.