Humane and dignified conditions in detention Tools and guidance: Developing European minimum standards for immigration detention A Council of Europe committee of experts, set up under the authority of the European Committee on Legal Co-operation (CDCJ), is codifying the existing international standards regulating the conditions in which migrants are to be held in detention centres. The committee’s work will result in European Rules on the Administrative Detention of Migrants. The work of the Committee of Experts on Administrative Detention of Migrants (CJ-DAM), in which FRA participates as an observer, started in May 2016 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2017. This codification exercise implements one of the recommendations in the first report of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on the state of democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Europe (2014), which itself followed on from similar calls made by the Parliamentary Assembly and CPT. This work has also been encouraged by the European Commission in its communication on EU  Return Policy (COM(2014) 199 final, published on 28 March 2014). The draft codifying instrument also covers standards relating to children. The Committee of Ministers plans to adopt it as a  non-binding recommendation to Member States in 2018. It deals with: • basic principles related to immigration detention • legal remedies • detention procedures • material conditions (accommodation, food, sanitation and hygiene, clothing, cash, etc.) • activities, welfare and assistance • healthcare • order, discipline and safety • personnel. Article 10 of the Reception Conditions Directive and Article 16 (1) of the Return Directive require that, as a rule, detention should take place in specialised detention facilities. However, where no alternatives are available, neither of the two directives excludes the possibility of prison accommodation,290 except for the accommodation of unaccompanied children who, under Article 11 (3) of the Reception Conditions Directive, must never be detained in prisons. Unaccompanied children detained under the Return Directive must, as far as possible, be placed in institutions with personnel and facilities appropriate to the needs of persons of their age (Article 17 (4)). Ø Most EU  Member States that allow the possibility of detaining children have established specialised child-friendly facilities, either separately or as distinct parts of existing detention facilities. EU Member States that, although they do not formally prohibit detention of children, have non-detention policies or practices in place, such as Cyprus, Italy or Lithuania, have not created specialised facilities for detention of children. Bulgaria and Romania changed their laws to allow the detention of asylum applicants, including children.291 The new provisions entered into force in early 2016, but as of April 2017 closed facilities to host asylum-seeking children have yet to be established. Table 10 summarises the information FRA could collect on the existence and use of facilities that Member State authorities consider to fulfil the requirements of specialised facilities for children under EU law and whether or not these were used in 2015 or 2016. Source: Terms of Reference of CJ-DAM (adopted by the Committee of Ministers at the 1241st meeting (Budget) of Ministers’ Deputies, 24–26 November 2015, CJ-DAM(2016)1) 7.1. Facilities 7.1.1. Specialised facilities Returnees and asylum seekers are not criminals and deserve different treatment from individuals falling within the criminal justice system. The use of specialised facilities is, therefore, the general rule envisaged by the EU migration and asylum acquis. In practice, however, deprivation of liberty can occur in different types of facilities, including dedicated centres, prison establishments, police cells and facilities in transit zones or at borders. 290 Reception Conditions Directive, Article 11 (2); Return Directive, Article 16 (1). 291 Bulgaria, Amendments to the Asylum and Refugee Act (Закон за изменение и допълнение на Закона за убежището и бежанците), 2 October 2015, Article 40, Article 45e (1); Romania, Parliament, Law 331 of 16 December 2015 for changing and completion of certain legislative acts in the field of aliens, (Legea nr. 331/2015 pentru modificarea si completarea unor acte normative in domeniul strainilor), 16 December 2015, Article III (1) 73