on security and access to rights recognised by the CESEDA. The way in which the regulations
are designed (vocabulary and content) does not make this document easily understood. The
inspectors have elsewhere found that copies posted, where they were not dilapidated, were very
seldom consulted, detainees clearly preferring to refer to other detainees or to staff for
information about life in the centre. Inspectors have also found that information provided about
internal regulations (times of access to legal assistance associations in particular) was sometimes
wrong.
The CGLPL recommends that internal regulations should be drafted in simple terms that
can be understood by all and be, in fact, accessible. They could usefully be translated into
languages corresponding to the most representative nationalities in each centre.
4.2
A personal requirement: the right to autonomy for persons deprived of
their liberty
4.2.1 Autonomy in the exercise of their rights
A person is detained because of the need to organise their deportation as soon as possible. Their
stay, which is generally short, is filled with multiple processes and hearings: on the one hand
those initiated by the prefecture with consular authorities of the country where nationality is
claimed or offered and which deal with obtaining documents necessary for deportation; on the
other hand those that take place in the context of checks carried out by the liberty and custody
judge (JLD); finally, when appropriate, processes initiated by the detainee which are usually
contesting a deportation decision or an application for asylum.
All of these procedures are subject to delays in procedure being forced on
the detainee. It is therefore essential that detainees have some autonomy in
carrying out what they themselves have initiated or which might be
favourable to them.
A first obstacle consists in the way in which information relating to rights
acknowledged under Article L. 551-2 of the CESEDA 124 is provided. Most often it is via the
provision of a standard document drawn up in one of the seven languages set out above. It is to
be presupposed that in accepting this document, the individual acknowledges that they
understand it, which appears in no way certain for minorities who in their daily life express
themselves in another language (Arab dialect, Mongol, Chechen, Wolof, Swahili etc.). According
to information received, an interpreter is rarely requested which would ensure that the individual
has in fact understood the rights notified to them and in fact understood their meaning.
In the case of standard forms, some information supplied may not be correct with regard
to the particular situation of individuals. Thus for a time limit for presenting an application for
asylum which is uniformly set out as being five days whilst this delay might already have started
to run against some individuals in particular in the event of transfer
124
Article L. 551-2 paragraph 2 provides: “Foreign nationals are to be informed in a language that they understand
as soon as possible after their arrival at the place of detention and they may ask for the assistance of an interpreter, an
adviser and a doctor. They are also to be informed that they can contact the Consulate or a person of their choice. A
Council of State decree specifies as necessary, the way in which assistance by these participants is to be provided".
Article R. 551-4 paragraph 1 provides: "Upon their arrival at the place of detention, each foreign national is given the
opportunity to contact any person of their choice, the consular authorities of the country for which they declare that
they have nationality and their lawyers, where they have one or if they do not, the legal advice office of the Regional
Court Bar in the district in which the place of detention is situated".
146
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