A/HRC/4/40/Add.3 page 8 19. In some departments, where there is no public defender’s office, the judge handling the case appoints official defenders from among the lawyers operating in the area. Regrettably, some lawyers do not accept the appointment and prefer to pay the fines and accept the resulting penalties. 20. The law faculties of the Central American University and some law schools offer legal aid services and free defence for needy persons. B. Legal framework for detention International instruments ratified by Nicaragua 21. Nicaragua is a State party to the seven principal international human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its first Optional Protocol and has signed its second Optional Protocol. Treaties which are at variance with the Constitution have no validity (Constitution, art. 182). Treaties have the same validity as laws. Constitution and the rights which it guarantees 22. The individual rights and freedoms guaranteed and protected by the Constitution are listed in chapter I of its Part Four. Article 25 sets out the rights to individual freedom, safety and recognition of legal personality and capacity. Articles 33 and 34 relate to the rights of detainees and accused persons and the safeguards against arbitrary detention and imprisonment. All detainees have the right to be informed without delay of the reasons for their detention and of the charges brought against them; the right to notify their families of their detention and the right to be brought before the authority designated by law within a maximum period of 48 hours. The constitutional rights and safeguards relating to detention are recapitulated in article 232 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, under the duties of the police. 23. No one may remain in detention once their release has been ordered. Any instance of illegal detention will incur liability on the part of the authority responsible (Constitution, art. 33). State protection for and recognition of the rights of the individual shall be extended to every person on its national territory (art. 46). Detention in the context of criminal proceedings (a) Police custody 24. Any individual may carry out an arrest in the event of flagrante delicto. The police may also take persons into custody without the need for a warrant when the perpetrator of a punishable act is surprised in the process of committing that act, discovered fleeing the scene of an offence, or apprehended in its vicinity bearing weapons, tools or other items which give grounds to presume that person’s involvement in the offence (Code of Criminal Procedure, art. 231). In addition, station chiefs have the power to issue arrest warrants within a period of 12 hours of being notified of the commission of an offence punishable by a custodial sentence (Code of Criminal Procedure, art. 21, para. 3). In all other cases, a court order is required before a person can be taken into custody.