CAT/C/29/D/193/2001 page 7 According to the administration’s statement of case, Mr. Azurmendi’s statements did not constitute a breach of French public order because they were taken freely in the presence of a lawyer from the Madrid bar. In fact, there is nothing to confirm that this was the case, or even that a lawyer was continuously present while he was held in custody, from the beginning to the end of the questioning; So that, while a lawyer from the Madrid bar may have assisted the person concerned at some time while he was being held in custody, this circumstance in no way rules out the possibility that the suspicions against the plaintiff were gathered in a manner contrary to French public order. The Council of State rejected this appeal by a decision dated 7 November 2001. The complainant was handed over to the Spanish authorities on the same day. The complaint 3.1 The complainant considers that her extradition to Spain constitutes a violation of article 15 of the Convention insofar as the charges brought against her by the Spanish authorities were based on statements made as a result of torture. 3.2 Article 15 of the Convention is one of the corollaries of the absolute prohibition of torture on which this Convention against Torture is based. The first part of the article is designed to deprive the practice of torture of any value when inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession. In that context, statements obtained as a result of torture must be declared absolutely null. 3.3 This provision is applicable to any court or non-court proceedings, particularly penal or administrative proceedings. Hence it is applicable in this case to extradition proceedings. 3.4 The complainant holds that several criteria must be satisfied if a State party is to be found to have violated article 15 of the Convention. − It must be established that the statement cited as evidence in the proceedings in question was obtained as a result of torture. − The statement in question must be an essential element of the charges brought against the author of the communication. − Article 15 of the Convention imposes an absolute obligation on the courts and authorities of the State in question to assemble and examine, in an objective, fair and thorough manner, all the elements needed to establish that the statement was obtained unlawfully. − It follows from article 15 of the Convention that the statement at issue should be declared absolutely null by the courts and authorities of the State in question.