2.3.7 – Mattresses in custody cells revealed that some people were detained in the mass detention center for over 20 hours, or even several days. This clearly does not correspond with the short detention periods of just a few hours that had been planned by Hamburg Police. The National Agency takes a critical view of this finding. Some multipleoccupancy cells, which according to the National Agency’s minimum standards should not have held more than two detainees, were used to detain three persons over an extensive period of time. Minimum standards in terms of cell size must also apply to detention in a mass detention center, regardless of the duration of the placement. For single-occupancy custody cells, the National Agency has set a minimum standard of at least 4.5 square meters of floor space. For multiple-occupancy custody cells, a minimum floor space of 3.5 square meters per person, as well as adequate seating, are required. Facing walls in custody cells must be separated by a distance of at least two metres, and the ceiling must be considerably higher than two metres. During the visit to the mass detention center at the time of the Summit, it was found in a number of individual cases at least that detainees were held overnight without being given a mattress. Instead, they had received only a thin blanket. It became apparent that these individuals had not been informed that they could have a mattress, and therefore did not request one. 2.3.4 – Access to a lawyer Throughout the duration of the Summit, the emergency legal services ensured lawyers could be contacted at all times. A coordinating group within the mass detention center was responsible for assisting detainees in contacting a lawyer. On site, it was found that in some cases it took several hours for detainees to be able to contact a lawyer. Given the provisions made at the assembly point, it is not clear why this was the case. 2.3.5 – Prompt judicial hearing The documents provided and interviews with detainees and one judge revealed that it took several hours – in one particular case, seven hours – until detainees were brought before a judge. However, no clear reasons could be seen that would justify such a delay. This leads to doubts as to whether persons detained in the mass detention center were assured a prompt judicial hearing in all cases. 2.3.6 – Length of time before release The documents consulted showed that in a large number of cases several hours passed between the judicial hearing and release. If the judicial hearing does not result in a detention order being issued, the person concerned would have to be released immediately. 35