PART B – International standards in the Istanbul Protocol 21 3. FURTHER SAFEGUARDS a. Habeas Corpus An important safeguard for detainees is the right to be able to challenge the legality of their detention in their national courts by way of habeas corpus proceedings. Under these proceedings the competent detaining authority is required to bring a detainee before a judge and provide a legal rationale for his continued detention. The right of habeas corpus is contained in Article 9(4) of the 42 ICCPR and the Human Rights Committee has confirmed that it is a right which must 43 apply without exception. Habeas corpus contributes to the protection of the detainee as it enables a judge to confirm “whether the detainee is still alive and whether or not he or she has been subjected to torture or physical or psychological abuse.”44 This may be done by the judge seeking, “access to the detainee and verify his/her physical condition.”45 Judges should be alert to any signs, such as the detainee’s condition, appearance and behaviour, and the conduct of police officers or 46 prison guards and others present. A judge should record any allegations of torture, order a medical examination where there are grounds for suspicion that the detainee may have been tortured and take the requisite steps to ensure a prompt and full investigation of the allegations.47 Lawyers may seek to ensure availability of, and use habeas corpus proceedings in the following ways: • Where the right of habeas corpus is not recognised or not guaranteed in line with international standards, advocate for its inclusion as a fundamental right in the Constitution and in relevant legislation, in line with relevant international standards • Where available, seek to use the right of habeas corpus at the earliest opportunity, challenging any delay in granting access before national courts and/or regional and international human rights bodies as appropriate • Use habeas corpus proceedings to raise allegations of torture • Call on the judge or judicial body to examine the substance of the complaint and to take the requisite steps to prevent further torture by transferring the detainee from his or her current place of detention and to initiate an investigation. b. Refusing to admit as evidence confessions or statements based upon torture The UN Convention against Torture requires that any statement made as a result of torture or other coercion, including confessions by the accused or statements made by witnesses, be excluded by the court, except in proceedings against the alleged perpetrators of torture.48 The rule that confessions or statements extracted under torture should not be used as evidence has also been ac-