A/HRC/4/40/Add.2 page 10 35. In addition to arrest in flagrante delicto, an arrest may be ordered by a competent judge at the request of the prosecutor, if there are grounds to presume that the person has committed a publicly actionable offence and thus to carry out an investigation. The detention may not last more than 24 hours, within which period an order must be issued either for the person’s release or for the indictment and pretrial detention of the detainee. (b) Pretrial detention and detención en firme 36. Pretrial detention may not exceed six months for cases punishable by an ordinary prison term, or one year for cases punishable by long-term imprisonment. The pretrial detention may be ordered by the judge when it is considered necessary to ensure the presence of the accused or the defendant at the trial, or to ensure that he or she serves the sentence (articles 167 and 169 of the Code of Criminal Procedure). 37. As alternatives to pretrial detention, the Code provides for house arrest, the obligation to report periodically to the authorities and restriction to a specified geographical area of the country (art. 171). Such measures are subject to appeal. Challenges lodged against such measures do not automatically suspend them, but they must be resolved within five days. 38. The final part of article 171 of the Code also establishes that pretrial detention must be replaced by house arrest as an alternative measure in all cases where the accused or the defendant is over 65 years of age, or is a pregnant woman within 90 days of expected delivery. 39. Under Act No. 2003-101 of 13 January 2003, article 160 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was revised, establishing a new form of restraining measure directed at individuals, detención en firme. This measure should be applied whenever a committal order is issued, which is to say when a judge considers that the prosecutor’s investigation has resulted in a serious and well-grounded presumption that a crime has occurred and that the accused was involved as either the perpetrator, an accomplice or an accessory to the fact. 40. Under new article 173 A of the Code, which was inserted by Act No. 2003-101, detención en firme must be ordered by a judge familiar with the case, by means of an order of committal. The only possible exceptions concern people who have been qualified as presumed accessories and who have been sentenced for an offence punishable by less than one year of imprisonment (article 16 of Act No. 2003-101). The detention order is not suspended if an appeal is lodged against the order of committal. The use of detención en firme has been upheld by the Constitutional Court. 41. Act No. 2003-101 also establishes that, once the term of six months or one year set out in the Constitution lapses and the pretrial detention can no longer be applied, resulting in the release of the detainee, the competent judge or court is obliged immediately to hand the entire case file over to the National Council of the Judiciary. (c) Constitutional guarantees 42. Article 93 of the Constitution establishes the remedy of habeas corpus. Persons who consider that they have been unlawfully deprived of their liberty may lodge an appeal of habeas corpus with the competent mayor. The mayor, within 24 hours of receipt of the