Condensed entry: No one shall be deprived of liberty without a valid commitment order. Only officially recognised places of detention should be used. Details about deprivations of liberty should be entered in official registers which should be available to the detained person, family members, legal representatives and others with a legitimate interest Registers should include information concerning (a) identity, (b) reason for the deprivation of liberty and the authority therefore and (c) the date and time of arrest and admission; (d) place of detention; (e) state of health; (f) appearance before a judicial or other authority; (g) inventory of personal property; (h) date and time of transfer and information about destination; (i) date and time of release; (j) in case of death, circumstances and cause of death and destination of the remains. Comprehensive entry: No one shall be deprived of liberty without a valid commitment order.[1] Only officially recognised places of detention should be used.[2] Unregistered deprivation of liberty constitutes *arbitrary detention*, and may increase the risk of *enforced disappearance*. The requirement that detainees should be registered is meant to ‘guarantee the effective protection of detained persons’.[3] Details about deprivations of liberty should be entered in official registers. Information contained in the register should be available to the detained person, family members, legal representatives and others with a legitimate interest.[4] Registers should include: · Information about the arrested person’s identity;[5] · Reason for deprivation of liberty;[6] · Authority which ordered the deprivation of liberty;[7] · Date, time and place of arrest and admission;[8] · The place of detention;[9] · State of health (including visible injuries and complaints of ill-treatment);[10] · Time of first appearance before a judicial or other authority;[11] · Inventory of personal property;[12] · Date and time of transfer and information about destination;[13] · Date and time of release;[14] · In case of death, circumstances and cause of death and destination of the remains.[15] The ECtHR held in Çakıcı v Turkey:[16] The recording of accurate holding data concerning the date, time and location of detainees, as well as the grounds for the detention and the name of the persons effecting it, is necessary for the detention of an individual to be compatible with the requirements of lawfulness for the purposes of Article 5 § 1. The lack of records of this applicant discloses a serious failing, which is aggravated by the Commission’s findings as to the general unreliability and inaccuracy of the records in question. The Court also shares the Commission’s concerns with regard to the practices applied in the registration of holding data by the gendarme witnesses who appeared before the Commission’s delegates – the fact that it is not recorded when a person is held elsewhere than the officially designated custody area or when a person is removed from a detention area for any purpose or held in transit. It finds unacceptable the failure to keep records which enable the location of a detainee to be established at a particular time.
[1] Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (SMR) 7(2); Principles and Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas (2008) (Principles and Best Practices) IX(1); European Prison Rules art 14.
[2] International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (CED) art 17(1); Principles and Guidelines on the Right to Fair Trial and Legal Assistance in Africa (2003) (Principles and Guidelines) para M(6)(a).
[5] CED art 17(3)(a); SMR rule 7(1); Principles and Guidelines para M(6)(b)(i); Principles and Best Practices IX(1)(a); European Prison Rules art 15(1)(a).
[6] SMR rule 7(1); Body of principles for the protection of all persons under any form of detention or imprisonment principle (Body of principles) 12(a); Principles and Guidelines para M(6)(b)(ii); Principles and Best Practices IX(2)(c); European Prison Rules art 15(1)(b).
[7] CED art 17(3)(c); Body of principles 12(c); Principles and Guidelines para M(6)(b)(v); Principles and Best Practices IX(2)(d).
[8] CED art 17(3)(b), (e); SMR rule 7(1); Body of principles 12(b); Principles and Guidelines para M(6)(b)(iii); Principles and Best Practices IX(2)(g); European Prison Rules art 15(1)(c).
No one shall be deprived of liberty without a valid commitment order. Only officially recognised places of detention should be used. Details about deprivations of liberty should be entered in official registers which should be available to the detained person, family members, legal representatives and others with a legitimate interest
Registers should include information concerning (a) identity, (b) reason for the deprivation of liberty and the authority therefore and (c) the date and time of arrest and admission; (d) place of detention; (e) state of health; (f) appearance before a judicial or other authority; (g) inventory of personal property; (h) date and time of transfer and information about destination; (i) date and time of release; (j) in case of death, circumstances and cause of death and destination of the remains.
Comprehensive entry:
No one shall be deprived of liberty without a valid commitment order.[1] Only officially recognised places of detention should be used.[2] Unregistered deprivation of liberty constitutes *arbitrary detention*, and may increase the risk of *enforced disappearance*. The requirement that detainees should be registered is meant to ‘guarantee the effective protection of detained persons’.[3]
Details about deprivations of liberty should be entered in official registers. Information contained in the register should be available to the detained person, family members, legal representatives and others with a legitimate interest.[4]
Registers should include:
· Information about the arrested person’s identity;[5]
· Reason for deprivation of liberty;[6]
· Authority which ordered the deprivation of liberty;[7]
· Date, time and place of arrest and admission;[8]
· The place of detention;[9]
· State of health (including visible injuries and complaints of ill-treatment);[10]
· Time of first appearance before a judicial or other authority;[11]
· Inventory of personal property;[12]
· Date and time of transfer and information about destination;[13]
· Date and time of release;[14]
· In case of death, circumstances and cause of death and destination of the remains.[15]
The ECtHR held in Çakıcı v Turkey:[16]
The recording of accurate holding data concerning the date, time and location of detainees, as well as the grounds for the detention and the name of the persons effecting it, is necessary for the detention of an individual to be compatible with the requirements of lawfulness for the purposes of Article 5 § 1. The lack of records of this applicant discloses a serious failing, which is aggravated by the Commission’s findings as to the general unreliability and inaccuracy of the records in question. The Court also shares the Commission’s concerns with regard to the practices applied in the registration of holding data by the gendarme witnesses who appeared before the Commission’s delegates – the fact that it is not recorded when a person is held elsewhere than the officially designated custody area or when a person is removed from a detention area for any purpose or held in transit. It finds unacceptable the failure to keep records which enable the location of a detainee to be established at a particular time.
[1] Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (SMR) 7(2); Principles and Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas (2008) (Principles and Best Practices) IX(1); European Prison Rules art 14.
[2] International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (CED) art 17(1); Principles and Guidelines on the Right to Fair Trial and Legal Assistance in Africa (2003) (Principles and Guidelines) para M(6)(a).
[3] HRC General Comment 20 para 11.
[4] Principles and Guidelines para M(6)(c).
[5] CED art 17(3)(a); SMR rule 7(1); Principles and Guidelines para M(6)(b)(i); Principles and Best Practices IX(1)(a); European Prison Rules art 15(1)(a).
[6] SMR rule 7(1); Body of principles for the protection of all persons under any form of detention or imprisonment principle (Body of principles) 12(a); Principles and Guidelines para M(6)(b)(ii); Principles and Best Practices IX(2)(c); European Prison Rules art 15(1)(b).
[7] CED art 17(3)(c); Body of principles 12(c); Principles and Guidelines para M(6)(b)(v); Principles and Best Practices IX(2)(d).
[8] CED art 17(3)(b), (e); SMR rule 7(1); Body of principles 12(b); Principles and Guidelines para M(6)(b)(iii); Principles and Best Practices IX(2)(g); European Prison Rules art 15(1)(c).
[9] CED art 17(3)(e).
[10] CED art 17(3(f); Principles and Best Practices IX(2)(b); European Prison Rules art 15(1)(e), (f).
[11] Body of principles 12(b); Principles and Guidelines para M(6)(b)(iv).
[12] European Prison Rules art 15(1)(d); Principles and Best Practices IX(2)(g).
[13] CED art 17(3)(h); Principles and Best Practices IX(2)(h).
[14] CED art 17(3)(h); SMR rule 7(1); Principles and Best Practices IX(2)(g).
[15] CED art 17(3)(g).
[16] Application 23657/94 (ECtHR 1999) para 105