E/CN.4/2001/66/Add.1 page 23 83. The head of the Law Enforcement Bodies Department of the Executive Administration of the President explained that if evidence is requested by a defence lawyer, the judge can decide to extend the initial 48-hour period to 72 hours. The arrested person is then transferred back to the police station cells. Therefore, the maximum period of time a person may be held in a police station is 72 hours. The head of the Law Enforcement Bodies Department also said sometimes, especially for remote police stations, time is needed to organize transportation to one of the few remand detention centres which currently exist in the country. The Special Rapporteur expressed his fears regarding this system. In particular, he noted the dilemma in which a lawyer might find him/herself: seeking new evidence to defend a client might put him at risk of further violence at the hands of the police. The head of the Law Enforcement Bodies Department further explained that one of the main problems was the lack of a sufficient number of remand centres which would allow the prisoner to be immediately transferred out of the hands of the police. He expressed his hope that new remand centres would be built in the near future in all the regions of the country. The Special Rapporteur suggested that where a court decision is taken to give an additional 24-hour period to a lawyer to find new evidence, the accused be kept in court cells, if they were appropriate. 84. The new Criminal Procedure Code also provides for the right to habeas corpus. Paragraph 2 of article 447 provides that an appeal against a decision to arrest is reviewed by the court within 24 hours. This right did not exist in the previous Code. 85. With respect to access to a lawyer, the Prosecutor General indicated that under the current system only juvenile offenders and serious offenders were provided with free State-appointed lawyers where needed. The new Criminal Procedure Code provides that all indigent suspects will have access to a State-appointed lawyer. Paragraph IV, subparagraph 1, of Article 19, “Security of the right to receive legal aid and the right to defence”, of the new Criminal Procedure Code provides that “[t]he organ executing the criminal process should secure the following rights of the suspected person or the defendant: to receive legal assistance from the moment of apprehension or arrest, or, for suspected persons, before the first interrogation, and for defendants at the moment of arraignment.” Furthermore, paragraph 2, subparagraph 7, of article 153 provides that the personnel of the authority implementing the criminal process and responsible for temporary detention places is required, “[i]f the arrested person cannot afford to hire a lawyer, to help him/her, at the expense of the Government, to meet the duty lawyer working at the legal entity in the area of the temporary detention place.” While some officials said that a lawyer should be provided immediately to any person under arrest, or at least during the first interrogation, the head of the Law Enforcement Bodies Department affirmed that a lawyer must be provided after the initial 48 hours. This means that the lawyer must be present only when the suspect is brought before a magistrate. 86. The arrested person must “meet his/her lawyer or other legal representative separately but under supervision and to have the necessary confidential conversation” (art. 153, para. 2, subpara. 5). The General Prosecutor however noted with concern that the number of lawyers in the country was insufficient for the time being. But he also welcomed a recent agreement between the Ministry of Justice and the Association of Lawyers by which the Ministry will pay the fees of the State-appointed lawyers.