ESSEX PAPER 3: INITIAL GUIDANCE ON THE INTERPRETATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UN NELSON MANDELA RULES Drawing on the first ‘Essex paper’ the experts recalled that body-worn electro-shock belts,367 which by their nature inflict severe physical pain and mental suffering and due to their humiliating and degrading effect, have been increasingly condemned and their use nowadays has been abandoned in most states.368 The CAT has recommended the abolition of electro-shock stun belts and restraint chairs as methods of restraining those in custody, noting that their use often violates Article 16 of the Convention.369 The CPT opposes the ‘use of electric stun belts for controlling the movement of detained persons, whether inside or outside places of deprivation of liberty.’370 The European Union has gone as far as prohibiting the export of electric-shock devices which are intended to be worn on the body by a restrained individual as goods ‘which have no practical use other than for the purpose of capital punishment or for the purpose of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’.371 The Essex group stressed the requirements of legality (prescription by law), necessity and proportionality: these are invoked in Rules 47(2) and 48, and provided for in the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials372 and the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials,373 which continue to supplement the revised SMR. These principles have also been enshrined in the Beijing Rules.374 The Essex group noted that Rule 47(2) limits the cases of lawful use of restraints to: a) precaution against escape during a transfer (note restrictions before courts etc) b) instances where other methods of control fail to prevent self-injury, injury to others or damage to property (note restrictions). The experts recalled that health-care personnel must not play any role in the application of sanctions or restrictive measures, including instruments of restraint, and that therefore, in the course of the SMR review, their use on ‘medical grounds’ has been deleted. Body-worn electro-shock devices (for example belts, sleeves, cuffs) encircle various parts of the subject’s body (usually the waist, but variants have been developed to fit on legs or arms) and deliver an electric shock when a remote control device is activated. 367  Essex 1, pp. 25, 26. 368  UN Committee against Torture, for example, 23rd and 24th Sessions, Report of the Committee against Torture: Consideration of reports submitted by States Parties under article 19 of the Convention: M. United States of America, May 2000, A/55/44, para. 180(c). 369  CPT, 20th General Report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment [CPT/Inf(2010)28], para. 74; European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), CPT Standards: “Substantive” sections of the CPT’s General Reports, 2015, CPT/Inf/E (2002) 1 – Rev. 2015.    370  European Union, Council Regulation (EC) No. 1236/2005 of 27 June 2005 concerning trade in certain goods which could be used for capital punishment, torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Article 3 referring to Annex II, which lists in para. 2.1 ‘Electric-shock devices which are intended to be worn on the body by a restrained individual, such as belts, sleeves and cuffs, designed for restraining human beings by the administration of electric shocks having a no-load voltage exceeding 10 000 V’. 371  Article 3 of the Code states that ‘Law enforcement officials may use force only when strictly necessary and to the extent required for the performance of their duty’. The Commentary elaborates on the exceptionality and proportionality, stating that ‘In no case should this provision be interpreted to authorize the use of force which is disproportionate to the legitimate objective to be achieved’. 372  In accordance with the commentary to article 1 of the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, the term ‘law enforcement officials’ includes all officers of the law, whether appointed or elected, who exercise police powers, especially the powers of arrest or detention. 373  Rule 64 of the UN Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty. 374  Penal Reform International and the Essex Human Rights Centre | 95