E/CN.4/1990/17 page 59 182. Article 6 of the Constitution states that, except for flagrante delicto cases, arrests can only be made by virtue of a warrant iBSued by the competent judge. An arrested person must be brought before a judicial authority within six hours. He must be informed immediately of the reason for hie arrest and this information must also be conveyed to a person of the detainee's choice (art. 7). He has a right to legal counsel and may only be held in official places of detention. Authorities which violate these rules are personally and criminally responsible. 183. The right not to be arbitrarily arrested and detained is guaranteed by the habeas corpus procedure (exhibici6n personal) (article 263 of the Constitution). The provisions of the Conctitution are elaborated in the Amparo, Habeas Corpus and Constitutionality Act of 8 January 1986. 184. Since kidnapping is a very common phenomenon in Guatemala, an effective functioning of habeas corpus is of the utmost importance. The procedure of application for habeas corpus is completely informal (article 85 of the Amparo Act) and in fact a great number of writB of habeas corpus are submitted. Since, however, in most cases the identities of the abductors and the places where the abducted persons are held are not known, the great majority of the habeas corpus proceedings get bogged down. Another explanation given by the authorities for the ineffectiveness of habeas corpus procedures is the fact that relatives are extremely reluctant to testify. 185. According to article 109 of the Aroparo, Habeas Corpus and Constitutionality Act of 1986, if a person cannot be found, the court must order the continuation of the investigation of the case. In carrying out their task the courts can request the assistance of the law enforcement authorities. In actual fact, however, most investigations are discontinued in such cases. 186. In an official circular of 27 July 1989 from the President of the Supreme Court to the judiciary, this duty to continue investigations was emphasized: there can be no stay or dismissal of habeas corpus proceedings until the person concerned - whether he be detained, injured or disappeared is located. Moreover, it wa6 pointed out that officials who frustrate the habeas corpus guarantee by ordering a detainee to be concealed and any executing agents has to be dismissed from their duties and punished according to the law. 187. The President of the Supreme Court readily admitted to the Special Rapporteur that the habeas corpus procedure was not very effective. He blamed thiB in part on the inefficiency of the investigative system in the country. 188. Both criminal investigations and investigation of unsolved habeas corpus cases are carried out by the police under the authority of the courts and under the responsibility of the Office of the Attorney-General (Ministerio Publico). The Attorney-General (Procurador General de la Nacion) is appointed by the President for a period of five years and is completely independent. Apart from his other functions he is in charge of criminal investigation. During his talks with the Attorney-General, who had taken office six months earlier, the Special Rapporteur was informed that there was a tremendous shortage of human resources. In each department there was only one prosecutor (fiscal), with two deputies. In the capital itself there were only 14 prosecutors for criminal affairs. The Attorney-General therefore had asked