Condensed: A detained person is entitled to notify or to have the competent authority notify members of his or her family of the arrest, detention or transfer and of the place of custody. The family should be notified without delay, though a brief delay in notification may be allowed where exceptional needs of the investigation so require. A detained person has a right to communicate and receive visits. If investigation so requires correspondence and visits by family members may be subject to appropriate supervision. A detained person should have access to news reporting by the media, for example through access to newspaper or radio transmissions.
Comprehensive: The right to access to the outside world flows from the prohibition on cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in article 7 of the ICCPR, the right to be *brought promptly before a judge* and the *right to challenge the legality of the detention* in article 9(3) and (4) of the ICCPR and the right to family life in article 17 of the ICCPR.[1] The right is also provided for in regional human rights instruments.[2] (See also *access to consular officials*). General Comment 20 of the HRC on article 7 of the ICCPR provides that ‘[t]he protection of the detainee … requires that prompt and regular access be given to doctors and lawyers and, under appropriate supervision when the investigation so requires, to family members.’[3] The names of detainees should be kept in ‘registers readily available and accessible to those concerned, including relatives and friends.’ (See *registration of detainees*). The HRC has found that ‘to keep the author's husband in captivity and to prevent him from communicating with his family and the outside world’ constitutes a violation of the prohibition on cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in article 7 of the ICCPR.[4] According to the European Prison Rules pre-trial detainees may be prevented from communicating with and receiving visits from family members only if there is ‘a specific prohibition for a specified period by a judicial authority in an individual case.’[5] With regard to notification, the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment states that: ‘Promptly after arrest and after each transfer from one place of detention or imprisonment to another, a detained or imprisoned person shall be entitled to notify or to require the competent authority to notify members of his family or other appropriate persons of his choice of his arrest, detention or imprisonment or of the transfer and of the place where he is kept in custody.’[6] (See also *access to legal counsel*). The notification to family members ’shall be made or permitted to be made without delay’ although ‘the competent authority may ... delay a notification for a reasonable period where exceptional needs of the investigation so require’.[7] The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has recommended that ‘in all circumstances, a relative of the detainee should be informed of the arrest and place of detention within 18 hours’.[8] The Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonmentstates that ‘communication of the detained or imprisoned person with the outside world, and in particular his family or counsel, shall not be denied for more than a matter of days.’[9] Failure by the authorities to acknowledge detention may constitute *enforced disappearance*. The SMR provide that detainees ‘shall be kept informed regularly of the more important items of news by the reading of newspapers, periodicals or special institutional publications, by hearing wireless transmissions, by lectures or by any similar means as authorized or controlled by the administration.’[10] This right may be restricted for limited periods as part of disciplinary punishment.[11] According to the European Prison Rules ‘Prisoners shall be allowed to communicate with the media unless there are compelling reasons to forbid this for the maintenance of safety and security, in the public interest or in order to protect the integrity of victims, other prisoners or staff.’[12] (See also *access to educational, cultural and informational material in detention*).
[1]Marques de Morais v Angola communication 1128/2002 (HRC 2005) paras 6.3, 6.5.
[2] Principles and Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas (2008) principle XVIII; Robben Island Guidelines 20(a), 23,24, 28, 30-31; European Prison Rules (2006) rules 24, 99.
A detained person is entitled to notify or to have the competent authority notify members of his or her family of the arrest, detention or transfer and of the place of custody. The family should be notified without delay, though a brief delay in notification may be allowed where exceptional needs of the investigation so require. A detained person has a right to communicate and receive visits. If investigation so requires correspondence and visits by family members may be subject to appropriate supervision.
A detained person should have access to news reporting by the media, for example through access to newspaper or radio transmissions.
Comprehensive:
The right to access to the outside world flows from the prohibition on cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in article 7 of the ICCPR, the right to be *brought promptly before a judge* and the *right to challenge the legality of the detention* in article 9(3) and (4) of the ICCPR and the right to family life in article 17 of the ICCPR.[1] The right is also provided for in regional human rights instruments.[2] (See also *access to consular officials*).
General Comment 20 of the HRC on article 7 of the ICCPR provides that ‘[t]he protection of the detainee … requires that prompt and regular access be given to doctors and lawyers and, under appropriate supervision when the investigation so requires, to family members.’[3] The names of detainees should be kept in ‘registers readily available and accessible to those concerned, including relatives and friends.’ (See *registration of detainees*).
The HRC has found that ‘to keep the author's husband in captivity and to prevent him from communicating with his family and the outside world’ constitutes a violation of the prohibition on cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in article 7 of the ICCPR.[4] According to the European Prison Rules pre-trial detainees may be prevented from communicating with and receiving visits from family members only if there is ‘a specific prohibition for a specified period by a judicial authority in an individual case.’[5]
With regard to notification, the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment states that: ‘Promptly after arrest and after each transfer from one place of detention or imprisonment to another, a detained or imprisoned person shall be entitled to notify or to require the competent authority to notify members of his family or other appropriate persons of his choice of his arrest, detention or imprisonment or of the transfer and of the place where he is kept in custody.’[6] (See also *access to legal counsel*).
The notification to family members ’shall be made or permitted to be made without delay’ although ‘the competent authority may ... delay a notification for a reasonable period where exceptional needs of the investigation so require’.[7] The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has recommended that ‘in all circumstances, a relative of the detainee should be informed of the arrest and place of detention within 18 hours’.[8] The Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonmentstates that ‘communication of the detained or imprisoned person with the outside world, and in particular his family or counsel, shall not be denied for more than a matter of days.’[9] Failure by the authorities to acknowledge detention may constitute *enforced disappearance*.
The SMR provide that detainees ‘shall be kept informed regularly of the more important items of news by the reading of newspapers, periodicals or special institutional publications, by hearing wireless transmissions, by lectures or by any similar means as authorized or controlled by the administration.’[10] This right may be restricted for limited periods as part of disciplinary punishment.[11] According to the European Prison Rules ‘Prisoners shall be allowed to communicate with the media unless there are compelling reasons to forbid this for the maintenance of safety and security, in the public interest or in order to protect the integrity of victims, other prisoners or staff.’[12] (See also *access to educational, cultural and informational material in detention*).
[1] Marques de Morais v Angola communication 1128/2002 (HRC 2005) paras 6.3, 6.5.
[2] Principles and Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas (2008) principle XVIII; Robben Island Guidelines 20(a), 23,24, 28, 30-31; European Prison Rules (2006) rules 24, 99.
[3] Para 11. See also SMR rule 37.
[4] Sharma v Nepal communication 1469/2006 (HRC 2008) para 7.2.
[5] European Prison Rules (2006) rule 99.
[6] Principle 16(1).
[7] Principle 16(4).
[8] Special Rapporteur on Torture, E/CN.4/1995/34 (1995) para 926(d).
[9] Principle 15.
[10] SMR rule 39.
[11] McFeeley v UK application 8317/78 (EComHR 1980) DR 20, 44 97 para 110.
[12] European Prison Rules (2006) rule 24.12.