84
209.
At the same time, as noted by the European Court, that right of
detainees for particular swiftness in the processing of their cases should not be an
305
obstacle for the courts to discharge their duties with the appropriate care.
8.
Imposition of pretrial detention a second time and release following
acquittal
210.
Once a pretrial detainee has been released, pretrial detention may
only be ordered anew if the reasonable period of the previous detention has not
expired, provided that the conditions for its admissibility are again met. In such cases,
determining the reasonable period shall take into account the deprivation of liberty
306
already served by the offender, and therefore the calculation should not be reset.
211.
In addition, as already noted, in accordance with the principle of
presumption of innocence, detainees who are acquitted by the first-instance court
307
should be released immediately.
9.
Children and adolescents
212.
The Inter-American Commission, in its thematic report Juvenile Justice
308
and Human Rights in the Americas, spoke extensively about the objectives, general
principles, and minimum guarantees that should govern juvenile criminal justice
systems. The Commission stresses that the goals of these juvenile systems include
working for the reintegration of young offenders by providing them with the
309
opportunities necessary for them to assume a constructive role in society. In pursuit
of this goal, States should contemplate alternatives to the prosecution of criminal
310
offenses and to the deprivation of liberty.
213.
The decision to use custodial measures should be made once it has
been shown and proven that non-custodial measures are inadvisable in a given case and
305
ECHR, Case of Tomasi v. France (Application 12850/87), Judgment of August 27, 1992 (Grand
Chamber), para. 102.
306
IACHR, Report No. 86/09, Case 12.553, Merits, Jorge, José, and Dante Peirano Basso, Uruguay,
August 6, 2009, paras. 145 and 146.
307
Similarly, UN, Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Annual Report presented to the Human
Rights Council, A/HRC/4/40, published January 3, 2007, para. 78.b.
308
IACHR, Juvenile Justice and Human Rights, OEA/Ser.L/V/II Doc. 78, adopted July 13, 2011
(hereinafter
“Juveline
Justice
and
Human
Rights”),
available
at:
http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/children/docs/pdf/JuvenileJustice.pdf.
309
Article 40 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child; IACHR, Juvenile Justice and Human
Rights, paras. 30 and 34; IACHR, Report No. 62/02, Case 12.285, Merits, Michael Domingues, United States,
October 22, 2002, para. 83; I/A Court H.R., The Street Children Case (Villagrán Morales et al.) v. Guatemala.
Judgment of November 19, 1999. Series C No. 63, para. 194.
310
IACHR, Juvenile Justice and Human Rights, Recommendations, paras. 15 and 16.
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