LEAP Annual Conference 2026 - Break-Out Rooms Sessions

  • Book Your Break-Out Rooms Sessions

    Advance registration required. Participants should attend the break-out room assigned to them following registration.

  • Please select the 2:30 pm break-out session you want to attend

  • 1. Videoconferencing and European Investigation Order

    Against the backdrop of the European Commission’s upcoming proposal to amend the European Investigation Order, with a focus on videoconferencing, this session will explore the use of videoconferencing in pre-trial and trial hearings. It will engage LEAP members in a discussion on legal conditions, safeguards, and cross-border challenges rooted in their experiences, with a view to identifying core principles to inform potential future EU rules on remote participation.

    Facilitators:

    • Alex Tinsley, Senior Legal Consultant at Fair Trials, Barrister
    • Michele Panzavolta, Professor of Criminal Law and Cybercrime at the Faculty of Law and Criminology of the KU Leuven

  • 2. Access to a Lawyer

    This session will examine the latest national-level trends on the right of access to a lawyer, with a focus on cross-border proceedings. It will also explore the conditions identified by LEAP members for ensuring effective legal assistance in cases of remote participation at trial and pre-trial via videoconferencing, in light of the European Commission’s ongoing consultation on this issue.

    Facilitators:

    • Dimitris Giannoulopoulos, Head of the Department of Law at The City Law School, City St George’s, University of London, LEAP member
    • Mikołaj Pietrzak, Defence Lawyer, Former Dean of the Warsaw Bar Association, LEAP Advisory Board Member

  • 3. EAW and ne bis in idem

    This session will examine recent developments in European Arrest Warrant practice in light of the CJEU’s judgment in case C-305/22, which held that a refusal to execute an EAW and the domestic enforcement of a sentence do not preclude the issuing Member State from seeking the person’s surrender from another Member State at a later stage. Drawing on national and cross-border experience, the session will engage LEAP members in a discussion on the practical implications for ne bis in idem, the risk of multiple proceedings, and the safeguards needed to ensure legal certainty and protect fundamental rights.

    Facilitators:

    • Asya Mandzhukova - Stoyanova, Defence Lawyer, LEAP Advisory Board Member
    • Vania Costa Ramos, Defence Lawyer, President of the European Bar Association (ECBA), LEAP Advisory Board Member

  • 4. The role of people with lived experience in criminal justice reform

    This session will focus on how lived experience can be meaningfully integrated into criminal justice reform, moving beyond symbolic inclusion toward genuine co-creation and shared decision-making. Building on the work of the European Impacted Persons Advisory Council (EIPAC), the session will introduce newly developed internal guidelines aimed at strengthening Fair Trials’ engagement with impacted people across its advocacy, research, and policy work. LEAP members will reflect on practical ways to collaborate with EIPAC, particularly on outreach, engagement, and agenda-setting. Participants will be encouraged to share experiences, challenges, and ideas on how lived experience can shape advocacy priorities, public narratives, and reform efforts at both the national and European levels.

    Session facilitated by Fair Trial’s European Impacted Advisory Council (EIPAC) members:

    • Angelica Vieira, Lawyer
    • Elton Kalika, Researcher and Journalist
    • Karim Ridwan, Legal Interpreter, Human Rights Activist
    • Nuno Pontes, Researcher
    • Wael Habbal
    • Tassos Theofilou, Journalist, Researcher, and Author specialising in criminal justice and prisons

  • 5. Fair Trials Index Project

    This break-out session will introduce the Fair Trials Index, a new global tool developed by Fair Trials and Freshfields to compare how criminal justice systems across countries comply with the right to a fair trial, from arrest to final judgment. Similar in ambition to the Rule of Law Index, it aims to provide clear and comparable data to identify good and poor practices, reveal systemic gaps, and support evidence-based advocacy and reform. The session will engage LEAP members in a hands-on discussion on methodology, indicators, data collection, and impact, and explore how the Index can be used and promoted at national and European levels.

    Facilitators:

    • Chryssa Mela, Senior Legal Officer at Fair Trials
    • Sophie Rolph, Pro Bono Lawyer at Freshfields

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