E/CN.4/2004/3/Add.3 page 21 73. Particular attention should be paid to compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child with regard to the practice of arresting and detaining juveniles. The provisions of the international instruments regarding the minimum age of criminal responsibility should be observed. The practice of detaining children for their own protection and of detaining child beggars and street children should be reviewed, and the practice of taking them to police stations should be stopped. The judiciary should be invited to review the performance of judges who keep children in detention for months without giving them a hearing. The executive should review the situation of children in youth custody centres. A distinction should be made between the treatment of children in conflict with the law, treatment of children at risk or in irregular situations and treatment of children with special needs. Above all, there is a need to review whether it is necessary and appropriate to place such children in detention. 74. The Government should study carefully the police practice of detaining individuals involved in social protest, particularly the piqueteros who blockade roads and occupy public spaces. A distinction should be made between cases in which such actions are peaceful and those in which violence is used, and it should always be borne in mind that the protests emanate from sectors where jobs have been lost owing to the serious recession that Argentina has been experiencing for the past four years. The legitimate rights of the third parties affected need to be reconciled with the unrestricted observance of the freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom to demonstrate, as guaranteed by international law. 75. An effective judicial remedy should be provided for administrative orders for the detention of foreigners with a view to their expulsion from the country. Any person detained for reasons related to immigration should have an opportunity to request a court to rule on the legality of his or her detention before the expulsion order is enforced. The current practice of detaining foreigners for reasons related to immigration together with individuals charged with ordinary offences should be halted. Notes 1 See, for example, the judgement of the European Court of Human Rights in case No. 24/1986/122/171-173, dated 6 December 1988, in which the Court declared that: “Mr. Barberà, Mr. Messagué and Mr. Jabardo thus had to face a trial that was vitally important to them, in view of the seriousness of the charges against them and the sentences that might be passed, in a state which must have been one of lowered physical and mental resistance. Despite the assistance of their lawyers, who had the opportunity to make submissions, the circumstance, regrettable in itself, undoubtedly weakened their position at a vital moment when they needed all their resources to defend themselves and, in particular, to face up to questioning at the very start of the trial and to consult effectively with their counsel.” Series A, vol. 146, para. 70. 2 Article 316 of the Code of Criminal Procedure applicable in the Federal Capital. The codes of criminal procedure followed in other provinces contain similar provisions. -----