consistent with international humanitarian law. 436 Here the UK had not
derogated from its ECHR obligations.
B. Procedural safeguards
Reasons for Detention
28. Persons deprived of their liberty should be informed of the reasons of their
arrest at the time of the arrest irrespective of the nature or any justifications for
the arrest.437
29. The reasons must be detailed, prompt and comprehensible438 and include
factual details regarding the substance of the complaint, not just the legal
grounds, such as the wrongful act and the identity of the alleged victim, if any.
So, for example, in Drescher Caldas v Uruguay, the Human Rights Committee
considered it insufficient to simply inform the detainee ‘that he was being
arrested under the prompt security measures without any indication of the
substance of the complaint against him’.439
30. The reasons must be given in a language that the arrested person
understands.440
31. In the case of children, notice of and the reasons for the arrest should also be
provided directly to their parents, guardians, or legal representatives. 441
32. The right to be informed about any charges applies to criminal prosecutions, as
well as to military prosecutions or other proceedings directed at criminal
punishment.442
33. Notice of charges shall be sufficient to facilitate the determination of the legality
of or appropriateness of the detention and does not have to meet the
436
Hassan v UK, European Court, 16 September 2014.
Human Rights Committee, Communication 1460/2006, Yklymova v. Turkmenistan, 20 July 2009,
para. 7.2; Communication 414/1990, Mika Miha v. Equatorial Guinea, 8 July 1994, para. 6.5;
Communication 188/1984, Martínez Portorreal v. Dominican Republic, 5 November 1987, paras. 9.2,
11; Concluding observations, Canada CCPR/C/CAN/CO/5 (2006), para. 14.
438 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, A/HRC/8/4, para
27. Communication 43/1979, Adolfo Dreschler Caldas v Uruguay, 21 July 1983.
439 Communication 43/79 Drescher Caldas v Uruguay, 11 January 1979, para 13.2. See also
Communication 1177/2003, Wenga and Shandwe v. Democratic Republic of the Congo, 17 March
2006, para. 6.2; Communication 1128/2002, Marques de Morais v. Angola, 29 March 2005, para. 6.2.
440 Communication 868/1999, Wilson v. The Philippines, 30 October 2003, paras. 3.3, 7.5.
441 Human Rights Committee, Communication 1402/2005, Krasnova v. Kyrgyzstan, 29 March 2011,
para. 8.5; General Comment No. 32, CCPR/C/GC/32 (2007), para. 42; see Committee on the Rights of
the Child, General Comment No. 10, CRC/C/GC/10 (2007), para. 48.
442 Communication 1782/2008, Aboufaied v. Libya, 21 March 2012, para. 7.6; Communication
1649/2007, El Abani v. Algeria, paras. 7.6, 7.8.
437
87
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