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(1) The purpose of this Directive is to establish procedural safeguards to ensure that children, meaning persons under the age of 18, who are suspects or accused persons in criminal proceedings, are able to understand and follow those proceedings and to exercise their right to a fair trial, and to prevent children from re-offending and foster their social integration.

(2) By establishing common minimum rules on the protection of procedural rights of children who are suspects or accused persons, this Directive aims to strengthen the trust of Member States in each other's criminal justice systems and thus to improve mutual recognition of decisions in criminal matters. Such common minimum rules should also remove obstacles to the free movement of citizens throughout the territory of the Member States.

(3) Although the Member States are parties to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, experience has shown that this in itself does not always provide a sufficient degree of trust in the criminal justice systems of other Member States.

(4) On 30 November 2009, the Council adopted a Resolution on a Roadmap for strengthening the procedural rights of suspected or accused persons in criminal proceedings (‘the Roadmap’). Taking a step-by-step approach, the Roadmap calls for the adoption of measures regarding the right to translation and interpretation (measure A), the right to information on rights and information about the charges (measure B), the right to legal advice and legal aid (measure C), the right to communicate with relatives, employers and consular authorities (measure D), and special safeguards for suspected or accused persons who are vulnerable (measure E). The Roadmap emphasises that the order of the rights is indicative and thus implies that it may be changed in accordance with priorities. The Roadmap is designed to operate as a whole; only when all its components are implemented will its benefits be experienced in full.

(5) On 11 December 2009, the European Council welcomed the Roadmap and made it part of the Stockholm programme — An open and secure Europe serving and protecting citizens (point 2.4). The European Council underlined the non-exhaustive character of the Roadmap by inviting the Commission to examine further elements of minimum procedural rights for suspects and accused persons, and to assess whether other issues, for instance the presumption of innocence, need to be addressed, in order to promote better cooperation in that area.

(6) Four measures on procedural rights in criminal proceedings have been adopted pursuant to the Roadmap to date, namely Directives 2010/64/EU , 2012/13/EU , 2013/48/EU and Directive (EU) 2016/343 of the European Parliament and the Council.

(7) This Directive promotes the rights of the child, taking into account the Guidelines of the Council of Europe on child-friendly justice.

(8) Where children are suspects or accused persons in criminal proceedings or are subject to European arrest warrant proceedings pursuant to Council Framework Decision 2002/584/JHA (requested persons), Member States should ensure that the child's best interests are always a primary consideration, in accordance with Article 24(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (the Charter).

(9) Children who are suspects or accused persons in criminal proceedings should be given particular attention in order to preserve their potential for development and reintegration into society.

(10) This Directive should apply to children who are suspects or accused persons in criminal proceedings and to children who are requested persons. In respect of children who are requested persons, the relevant provisions of this Directive should apply from the time of their arrest in the executing Member State.

(11) This Directive, or certain provisions thereof, should also apply to suspects or accused persons in criminal proceedings, and to requested persons, who were children when they became subject to the proceedings, but who have subsequently reached the age of 18, and where the application of this Directive is appropriate in the light of all the circumstances of the case, including the maturity and vulnerability of the person concerned.

(12) When, at the time a person becomes a suspect or accused person in criminal proceedings, that person has reached the age of 18, but the criminal offence was committed when the person was a child, Member States are encouraged to apply the procedural safeguards provided for by this Directive until that person reaches the age of 21, at least as regards criminal offences that are committed by the same suspect or accused person and that are jointly investigated and prosecuted as they are inextricably linked to criminal proceedings which were initiated against that person before the age of 18.

(15) In some Member States an authority other than a court having jurisdiction in criminal matters has competence for imposing sanctions other than deprivation of liberty in relation to relatively minor offences. That may be the case, for example, in relation to road traffic offences which are committed on a large scale and which might be established following a traffic control. In such situations, it would be unreasonable to require that the competent authorities ensure all the rights under this Directive. Where the law of a Member State provides for the imposition of a sanction regarding minor offences by such an authority and there is either a right of appeal or the possibility for the case to be otherwise referred to a court having jurisdiction in criminal matters, this Directive should therefore apply only to the proceedings before that court following such an appeal or referral.

(16) In some Member States certain minor offences, in particular minor road traffic offences, minor offences in relation to general municipal regulations and minor public order offences, are considered to be criminal offences. In such situations, it would be unreasonable to require that the competent authorities ensure all the rights under this Directive. Where the law of a Member State provides in respect of minor offences that deprivation of liberty cannot be imposed as a sanction, this Directive should therefore apply only to the proceedings before a court having jurisdiction in criminal matters.

(17) This Directive should apply only to criminal proceedings. It should not apply to other types of proceedings, in particular proceedings which are specially designed for children and which could lead to protective, corrective or educative measures.

(18) This Directive should be implemented taking into account the provisions of Directives 2012/13/EU and 2013/48/EU. This Directive provides for further complementary safeguards with regard to information to be provided to children and to the holder of parental responsibility in order to take into account the specific needs and vulnerabilities of children.

(19) Children should receive information about general aspects of the conduct of the proceedings. To that end, they should, in particular, be given a brief explanation about the next procedural steps in the proceedings in so far as this is possible in the light of the interest of the criminal proceedings, and about the role of the authorities involved. The information to be given should depend on the circumstances of the case.

(20) Children should receive information in respect of the right to a medical examination at the earliest appropriate stage in the proceedings, at the latest upon deprivation of liberty where such a measure is taken in relation to the child.

(21) Where a child is deprived of liberty, the Letter of Rights provided to the child pursuant to Directive 2012/13/EU should include clear information on the child's rights under this Directive.

(22) Member States should inform the holder of parental responsibility about applicable procedural rights, in writing, orally, or both. The information should be provided as soon as possible and in such detail as is necessary to safeguard the fairness of the proceedings and the effective exercise of the rights of the child.