A/HRC/4/40/Add.4 page 10 8. The Office of the Public Defender and private lawyers 26. The Office of the Public Defender, mandated to assist criminal defendants who do not have the means to hire a private lawyer, is established under the umbrella of the Supreme Court and financed out of its budget. 27. Private lawyers are organized in a bar association. B. The legal framework of detention 1. International instruments ratified by Honduras 28. Honduras has ratified all seven major international human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 2. Constitutional guarantees 29. The Constitution of Honduras contains ample and detailed provisions ensuring the protection of fundamental rights. With specific regard to criminal proceedings, it provides that nobody shall be arrested without a warrant issued by the competent authority, except for arrest in flagrante delicto (art. 84). The Constitution sets strict limits on detention without criminal charges (24 hours without judicial order, six days on judge’s order (art. 71)); it establishes the right to legal aid (art. 83) and the right not to be coerced to make statements incriminating oneself or a member of one’s family, only recognizing the validity of statements made before the competent judge (art. 88) and reaffirming the presumption of innocence (art. 89). 30. With regard to places of detention, the Constitution provides that no one can be held in places other than those provided by law (art. 85); persons under trial must be held separately from the convicted (art. 86); prisons shall contribute to the rehabilitation of detainees and their reintegration to working life (art. 87). 31. Article 182 of the Constitution provides the respect of the writ of habeas corpus, which is available to any person unlawfully imprisoned, detained or restrained, or in case of mistreatment, torture, harassment, or unlawful demands during lawful detention. 3. The criminal trial 32. The new criminal procedure code entered into force on 20 February 2002. The previous code reflected the inquisitorial model, in which the investigating judge was actively involved in determining the facts of the case and obtaining the confession of the suspect, which was the primary means to prove the offence (old CPP 163-173 and 219-235). The new criminal procedure is inspired by the adversarial model in which prosecution and defence argue before the court their opposing versions of the facts and the applicable law, and an independent and impartial judge presides over the proceedings and decides questions of law.