Alternatives to detention for asylum seekers and people in return procedures 2.2. Selected non-binding Council of Europe instruments relating to alternatives to detention The Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe have repeatedly emphasised the need for states to consider alternative and non-custodial measures, based on individual assessments, before resorting to detention. The Parliamentary Assembly stresses that children should never be detained for immigration purposes. Instrument Key text Committee of Ministers, Twenty Guidelines on Forced Return, 4 May 2005 Guideline 6. Conditions under which detention may be ordered 1. A person may only be deprived of his/her liberty, with a view to ensuring that a removal order will be executed, if this is in accordance with a procedure prescribed by law and if, after a careful examination of the necessity of deprivation of liberty in each individual case, the authorities of the host state have concluded that compliance with the removal order cannot be ensured as effectively by resorting to non-custodial measures such as supervision systems, the requirement to report regularly to the authorities, bail or other guarantee systems. Committee of Ministers, Recommendation Rec(2003)5 on measures of detention of asylum-seekers, 16 April 2003 6. Alternative and non-custodial measures, feasible in the individual case, should be considered before resorting to measures of detention. Committee of Ministers, Recommendation Rec(99)22 concerning prison overcrowding and prison population inflation, 30 September 1999 1. Deprivation of liberty should be regarded as a sanction or measure of last resort and should therefore be provided for only, where the seriousness of the offence would make any other sanction or measure clearly inadequate. Parliamentary Assembly of the 9. […] The Assembly therefore calls on member States to: […] Council of Europe, Resolution 9.7. adopt alternatives to detention that meet the best interests of 2020 – The alternatives to the child and allow children to remain with their family members immigration detention of and/or guardians in non-custodial, community-based contexts children, 3 October 2014 while their immigration status is being resolved; 9.8. provide necessary resources in order to develop alternatives to the detention of migrant children; 9.9. seek to develop and implement non-custodial, communitybased alternatives to detention programmes for children and their families, using the “Child-sensitive Community Assessment and Placement (CCAP) Model”; 9.10. raise the awareness of all public officials, including the police, prosecutors and judges dealing with migration matters, of international human rights standards, by emphasising the rights of children and the alternatives to detention; 9.11. share best practices on the alternatives to the detention of migrant children in all member States; 9.12. encourage collaboration between governments of member States, the Council of Europe, United Nations agencies, 12