E/CN.4/2005/6/Add.3 page 9 4. Lawyers and Bar Associations 17. The Working Group was informed that there are approximately 2,000 practising barristers in Belarus who are entitled to represent their clients in court proceedings. In order to be able to practise their profession, lawyers are obliged to be members of the official National Bar Association (Kollegia Advokatov) controlled by the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry is in charge of issuing and renewing licenses to practising lawyers. In order to get a license, law graduates have to pass a bar examination conducted by a commission headed by the Deputy Minister of Justice and composed of members of the Ministry of Justice and of the Bar Association. Licenses to practise are issued for a five-year period only. Upon the expiry of a license, an application for renewal must be submitted to the Ministry of Justice, accompanied by an attestation from the local Bar Association, stating that the applicant has shown good behaviour and has been complying with the laws governing the legal profession. 18. The National Bar Association encompasses practising lawyers and a network of regional and local Bar Associations. It helps to provide access to a public defender when required by law, such as for certain court proceedings. The State pays the Bar Association the fee for the services rendered by the public defender, but when a person is found guilty, these fees can be claimed by the State from the convicted person. The Bar Association acts as a centralized agency for lawyers in collecting their fees and pension contributions. Lawyers are subjected to the Bar Association’s supervision, which includes billing and receipt of client fees, an estimated 25 per cent of which are retained by the Bar Association. When a defendant is sentenced, the court can decide to charge him/her the fees of the court-appointed lawyer. B. The legal framework of detention 1. Laws governing detention 19. A whole spectrum of human rights and fundamental freedoms is guaranteed in the Constitution and laws as well as in the international treaties that the Republic of Belarus has ratified and is therefore legally bound to observe. Belarus has ratified the main international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. International treaties signed and ratified by Belarus automatically become part of internal law (article 1 of the Criminal Procedure Code lays down this principle). 20. The Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code were adopted in 1999. They entered into force on 1 January 2001. The Administrative Offences Code also covers some aspects of the detention process. The Working Group has been informed that a new administrative offences code has been adopted by Parliament. According to the information received during the visit, when this new code will have entered into force the maximum duration of police custody, presently of 72 hours, will be limited to 48 hours.