E/CN.4/1999/63/Add.3 page 9 16. The lack of capacity on the one hand and the growing numbers seeking entry for asylum on the other produce inequitable results. For example, a person who is liable to be detained may well be released subject to conditions only because there is no available space for accommodation. On the other hand, a person whose case for release is stronger may well be detained because of availability of space. This anomalous situation in the functioning of the legal regime exposes the Government to the charge that the decision to detain is not determined by the quality of the applicant’s case but by the physical consideration of availability of space. It may be mentioned at this stage that the White Paper seeks to address this problem by reducing dependency on prison services and by increasing the number of spaces in designated detention centres. 17. Once the decision to refuse entry and to detain has been made, the detainee is entitled, as of right, to appeal against the decision and to seek bail. For that purpose, the Immigration Appellate Authorities are required to adjudicate upon the claims of such detainees. All appeals of persons who claim refugee status, whether detained or not, that are received from the Home Office are scheduled for the first hearing within six weeks. Once asylum is refused and the person is either released on conditions or detained, he appears before an adjudicator who determines whether evidence is required. At the time of adjudication, the individual may be represented by counsel, as he is entitled to free legal representation. The adjudication proceedings are adversarial in nature and the decision by the adjudicator (judge) is in writing, giving full reasons for the decision. There is a further appeal from the decision of the adjudicator (judge) to the Immigration Appeals Tribunal, but before such an appeal can be filed the applicant has to seek leave to appeal and the Tribunal entertains the appeal only on a point of law. If the adjudicator (judge) refuses leave to appeal, the matter can be taken by the applicant in judicial review to the High Court where the applicant can plead that leave to appeal ought to have been granted. Normally, the decision by the adjudicator (judge) is taken within two weeks of the oral hearing. From the order of the Tribunal, the matter can also be brought before the Court of Appeal. The adjudicator (judge) is further entitled, at the time of the hearing, to grant bail. The right to bail is available to the applicant even before the final hearing of the appeal. In the event a person is detained, the adjudicator is entitled to grant bail and proceedings in the normal course will continue thereafter. III. MATTERS OF CONCERN 18. The United Kingdom must observe the provisions of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the other international instruments to which the United Kingdom is a party, i.e. the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, as well as the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The functioning of the legal regime in the United Kingdom, in the context of the above international instruments, gives rise to the following concerns: (a) The functioning of the legal regime on occasion makes the restriction on liberty and free movement sufficiently prolonged that it might in specific instances result in arbitrary deprivation of liberty;