A/HRC/16/52/Add.5 facility. Young detainees are also be kept separate from adults (sect. 107(2)(a) and (c)).10 Children for whom no alternative arrangement suitable to the needs of the child can be made may stay with their mothers in prison until the age of three.11 19. The Evidence Act excludes any confession as evidence in criminal proceedings if the confession was induced by threat or a promise by persons in authority (sect. 28). 3. Complaints and investigations of acts of torture and ill-treatment 20. Commanding officers in correctional institutions are responsible for making themselves available at reasonable times to receive and record requests and complaints from detainees, and to take the action they deem necessary.12 Detainees may also raise complaints with visiting magistrates, who must register any complaint in the Visiting Magistrate’s Register, available at each institution.13Despite the existence of visiting magistrates, however, there is no provision in the law that provides for an independent, external and efficient complaint mechanism. 21. Members or officers of the Ombudsman Commission are also entitled to visit detainees in correctional institutions at any time. If practical, a commanding officer of the correctional institution should be informed of the intended visit.14 However, the Correctional Service Act does not state whether meetings with detainees are private and confidential, nor does it have provisions regulating visits to police lock-ups and pretrial detention facilities. 4. Compensation 22. Police officers carrying out investigations in violation of the Arrest Act may be liable in damages to the person aggrieved by that breach (civil remedy) (sect. 26). However, officers found guilty under this proceeding are fully indemnified by the State if they acted bona fide, not maliciously or with wilful disregard of their professional duties and responsibilities, and not in a grossly negligent manner (sect. 29). 5. Juvenile justice 23. The Juvenile Courts Act of 1991 establishes a separate justice system for juvenile offenders, namely, those from 7 and 18 years of age (sect. 2). Under the Act, juvenile courts have jurisdiction to hear all indictable offences other than homicide, rape or an offence punishable by death or life imprisonment (sect. 15). 24. To fully implement the Act, which came into force in 2003, the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary and UNICEF drafted the Police Juvenile Justice Policy and Diversity Protocol in February 2006. Its aim was to realign police practices and procedures with the Juvenile Courts Act and to ensure that the interests of the juvenile are the primary consideration. As a result, arrest and detention in cells are to be used only in extreme or special circumstances. In addition, strict confidentiality of their identity and records must be maintained. 25. The Police Juvenile Justice Policy and Diversity Protocol furthermore prohibits the use of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (rule 1) and establishes that juveniles deprived of their liberty should be treated with humanity and 10 11 12 13 14 See also Juvenile Courts Act, sect. 48(2). Lukautim Pikinini (Child) Act, sect. 99. Correctional Service Regulation, sect. 122. Ibid., sect. 126. Correctional Service Act 1995, sect. 74. 7