CAT/OP/KAZ/1/Add.1 • The Government’s database on private individuals, through the law enforcement and specialized agencies information exchange system • The Ministry of Internal Affairs integrated data bank • The automated information system of the Ministry of Justice enforcement agencies 128. The information is updated regularly with information on persons arriving in penal correction system institutions entered on a daily basis. Paragraph 55 The Subcommittee recommends that detainees be brought before a judge as soon as possible, without waiting for the 72 hours authorized by law to lapse, and to reduce that period from 72 to 48 hours as an additional safeguard against torture and illtreatment. It also recommends that all hearings regarding initial detention and its prolongation be conducted in the presence of the detained persons and their lawyers. During the hearings, judges should inquire into the well-being of detainees and, where there is suspicion of torture, order an immediate and effective investigation. Detained persons must be able to challenge their detention at any time, at reasonable time intervals. The procedure for the initial detention and its periodic review and prolongation should be under judicial supervision and beyond the control of investigators, prosecutors and detaining authorities. 129. This norm is contained in existing legislation. In accordance with article 147 (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, where it is necessary to choose detention as a preventive measure, then, in accordance with article 140, the person conducting the pretrial investigation issues the order to apply to the court to obtain authorization to use the measure. Certified copies of the case file confirming the validity of the application are attached. The order concerning the choice of preventive measure, the application to the court for authorization to use that measure and all supporting documentation should be submitted to the procurator no later than 18 hours before the expiry of the detention period. 130. Paragraph 4 of the same article provides that the agreement of the procurator to the order of the person conducting the pretrial investigation authorizing the detention and the supporting documentation must be submitted to the investigating judge no later than 12 hours before the expiry of the period of detention, and the persons concerned are informed. 131. Pursuant to article 148 (2), the investigating judge shall, no later than eight hours after receipt of the documentation by the court, in compliance with the procedure prescribed in article 56 and in the presence of the procurator, the suspect or accused person, and the defence counsel, consider the application for authorization of detention as a preventive measure. A legal representative and a representative also have the right to participate in the court hearing. If the participants mentioned have been given due notification by the court of the place and time of the hearing, their non-attendance does not prevent the hearing taking place. Paragraph 59 The fact that all detention facilities are under the same ministry as the investigators is problematic. The Subcommittee recommends that the detaining authority be separate from the investigating officials, which allows for mutual control and excludes the possibility of using detention as a tool of the investigative process or a means to compel prisoners to confess. 132. Currently, the penal correction system falls under the structure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs; it is separate from the criminal prosecution agencies and, with the vertical subordination of the regional offices in the central administration, it has maintained its autonomy. 133. The current structure of the penal correction system is in line with article 24 of the Constitutional Law on the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and article 7 (4) of GE.19-01981 17