E/CN.4/2006/6/Add.2 page 65 299. Recommendation (a) stated: The legislation should be amended to ensure that no one is held without prompt access to a lawyer of his or her choice as required under the law applicable to ordinary crimes or, when compelling reasons dictate, access to another independent lawyer. 300. According to information from NGOs, prompt access to a lawyer continues to be problematic in practice. It is common practice to prevent detainees from gaining access to a lawyer by forcing them to sign a form stating that they do not want access to a lawyer, often being told to sign such waivers without being given the opportunity to read their contents; or without directly persuading detainees not to seek access to a lawyer, effectively discouraging them from doing so by informing them, for example, that they will be required to pay the legal fees. The authorities are required in certain situations to provide the suspect with a lawyer even if they reject this right (e.g. in relation to child suspects, suspects that are deaf, mute or suffer from a disability that prevents them from protecting themselves, and in relation to suspects that are facing charges carrying sentences of up to five years’ imprisonment). Persons suspected of crimes subject to penalties greater than five years’ imprisonment, may however waive their right to a lawyer. As the decision to charge a suspect with a particular offence rests with law enforcement personnel, there is concern that some suspects may be arbitrarily charged with the latter category of crimes, and thereby be unduly influenced to waive their right to a lawyer. 301. The Government informed that Article 136 of the Criminal Procedure Law and Article 19 of the Regulation on the Apprehension, Custody and Taking of Statements (RACT) provide that a detainee or an accused person can appoint a lawyer at any stage during the investigation. Article 135 of the Criminal Procedure Law provides that if the accused cannot afford to appoint a lawyer, a state-appointed lawyer will be provided. The RACT provides that detainees and arrested persons must be given a “Form on the Right of Suspects and Accused Persons”. In the case of illiterate persons, the form is read out to them. If the detained person does not wish to exercise the right to appoint a lawyer, he can make a statement to that effect on the form and sign it. The form has been translated into 11 different languages. Article 149(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code explicitly prohibits the prevention or restriction of a suspect or accused person’s right to have access to a lawyer at all stages of the investigation. In this regard, it noted that any reports concerning attempts by law enforcement officials to prevent detainees from gaining access to a lawyer, by whatever means, would be investigated by the competent authorities. The authority to decide which criminal offence a suspect is charged with rests solely with the public prosecutor and not the law enforcement bodies (Article 161, Criminal Procedure Code). The public prosecutor may exercise his authority through law enforcement officials, who operate under the supervision of public prosecutors. Law enforcement officials are obliged to report all detentions immediately to the public prosecutor and await instructions. Accordingly, law enforcement officials have no discretionary power to determine the type of criminal offence a suspect may be charged with. 302. Recommendation (b) stated: The legislation should be amended to ensure that any extensions of police custody are ordered by a judge, before whom the detainee should be brought in person; such extensions should not exceed a total of four days from the moment of arrest or, in a genuine emergency, seven days, provided that the safeguards referred to in the previous recommendation are in place.