A/HRC/4/40/Add.3 page 15 not exceeding 5 grams for marijuana or 1 gram for cocaine and other drugs, is punished, for first time offenders, with mandatory detention of 30 days and a fine of between 500 and 1,000 cordobas, for repeat offenders, by mandatory detention of between 30 and 90 days and fines of between 1,000 and 5,000 cordobas. 65. Article 78 of Act No. 285 stipulates that defendants awaiting trial for the commission of such offences may not on any account be released on bail. If found guilty and sentenced, they may not be granted suspended sentences, nor may they be released on parole after having served part of their sentences, nor may they benefit from pardons or amnesties. III. POSITIVE ASPECTS A. Cooperation of the Government 66. Throughout its visit, the delegation enjoyed full cooperation with the national and local authorities. It was able to visit all the detention facilities which it asked to see. In these facilities, it was able to have private meetings, without witnesses, with all those detainees who consented to such interviews. B. Endeavours to comply with international standards and to ensure protection of human rights in the criminal justice system 67. Since the promulgation of its Political Constitution, Nicaragua has implemented wide-ranging changes to its legal system, which have had positive repercussions for the democratic functioning of the State and the protection of its citizens’ individual and collective rights. 68. Promulgation of the Code of Criminal Procedure in 2001 brought into existence a new system of criminal justice, which renounced the former inquisitorial approach followed under the now repealed Criminal Investigation Code and replaced it with an adversarial system. Under the new system, the Office of the Public Prosecutor is assigned the powers formerly vested in the examining judge. 69. The former system, based on scrutiny by the judge within his or her own chambers of the case files, has been replaced by an adversarial and oral system based on open and public trials in which the judge presides over the hearings and performs an independent role, functioning as a neutral moderator rather than as an investigator. 70. Implementation of the new legislation has been satisfactory and has brought positive results. Introduction of jury trials and the system of plea-bargaining and the establishment of the institution of enforcement judges and of mandatory deadlines both for the preliminary and initial hearings and for the trial itself have led to a drastic reduction in the number of persons held in pretrial custody and have facilitated the administration of justice. 71. There has been a significant decline in the number of illegal, unjustified or arbitrary arrests and detentions. Generally speaking, the number of arrests has dropped to some 20,000 per year. Of this total, a mere 3,000 persons will actually stand trial. Some of those persons interviewed told the delegation that, previously, the police approach was to arrest a person first and then to investigate the case; now, they investigate first and then remand in custody.