A/HRC/4/40/Add.2 page 21 99. The implementation of the adversarial trial system requires that each side have the right to submit its case and to reply to the case of the other side and that the necessary equality of arms between the prosecution and the defence be ensured. In a country where the majority of the prison population cannot afford the services of a private defence attorney, it is absolutely essential to have a public defence system. There are only 32 public defenders in the country just 4 in Quito and another 4 in Guayaquil - a number totally inadequate for the prison population. Notwithstanding the good will and dedication to service of these defenders, it is obvious that they cannot ensure an appropriate trial defence and that they serve basically to give a veneer of legality to a process that is essentially unjust. 100. The Working Group notes with appreciation that some of the concerns expressed at the end of its visit are already under consideration by the Government. It thus welcomes the information to the effect that the executive branch has decided to improve conditions of detention through additional budget appropriations, the recent instructions to prison wardens and other specific measures. B. Recommendations 101. In the light of its observations, the Working Group proposes that the Government of Ecuador consider the following recommendations: (a) The judiciary should be provided with the necessary funding to ensure an appropriate administration of justice. Additional funding should be given to police and penitentiary institutions to improve urgently the conditions of detention at police stations, pretrial detention centres and social rehabilitation centres. The prison system should no longer be run by the Ministry of Internal Affairs; it should be administratively autonomous and self-financing. The use of torture and ill-treatment of detainees must be eliminated, in particular during the initial phases of the investigation, and detainees must be provided with the conditions required to prepare and ensure their defence and to maintain proper contact with their defenders; (b) Serious consideration should be given to repealing the provisions contained in Act No. 2003-101 which established detención en firme. The principles and norms enshrined in international instruments and the Constitution should prompt a review of the current legislation and the drawing up of new laws on the public defence system and the enforcement of sentences; (c) Urgent measures must be adopted to establish a system of public defenders in the country, placing the defence on an equal footing with the Public Prosecutor’s Office and furnishing it with the necessary resources. Detainees should be brought personally before the judge within 24 hours of arrest and must be provided with the assistance of an attorney from the very beginning of their detention. The criminal and administrative liability of officials who do not observe constitutional rules must be established, with the necessary enforcement; (d) Urgent measures should be adopted to end the systematic and abusive delegation of the duties of the Public Prosecutor’s Office to the Judicial Police and to set in place the necessary safeguards and oversight. The necessary penalties should be established for prosecutors who delegate their duties abusively;