CDL-AD(2006)009 -4- Council of Europe decided to use his power of inquiry under Article 52 of the ECHR and invited the Council of Europe member States to furnish an explanation of the manner in which their internal law ensures the effective implementation of the ECHR in relation to secret detention and transport of detainees. On 28 February 2006, the Secretary General presented his report based on the replies submitted by all member States (See the Secretary General’s report under Article 52 ECHR on the question of secret detention and transport of detainees suspected of terrorist acts, notably by or at the instigation of foreign agencies, SG/Inf (2006)5). 9. The aim of this opinion is to provide a reply to the questions put by PACE Legal Affairs Committee, and thus to identify the obligations of Council of Europe member States under public international law in general and under human rights law in particular, in respect of the irregular transport, extradition, deportation or detention of prisoners. In order to be able to do so, the Commission deems that it is necessary to outline at the outset the basic rules under international law, human rights law, humanitarian law and air law (Section I) in respect of detention and inter-State transport of prisoners. The Commission will subsequently proceed with the identification of the specific obligations of Council of Europe member States in these areas (Section II), and will then answer the questions put by PACE (Conclusions). SECTION I: THE LEGAL REGIME A. General principles a. Regular inter-State transfers of prisoners 10. Under international law and human rights law, there are four situations in which a State may lawfully transfer a prisoner to another State: deportation, extradition, transit and transfer of sentenced persons for the purposes of serving their sentence in another country. 11. Deportation is the expulsion from a country of an alien whose presence is unwanted or deemed prejudicial. A person against whom a deportation decision has been taken by an administrative authority must have the possibility of applying to a competent authority1, preferably a court2. Deportation is only possible on the specific grounds indicated by the pertinent national law. 1 Article 1, Protocol 7 to the ECHR (Procedural safeguards relating to expulsion of aliens) provides: “1. An alien lawfully resident in the territory of a State shall not be expelled therefrom except in pursuance of a decision reached in accordance with law and shall be allowed: a to submit reasons against his expulsion, b to have his case reviewed, and c. to be represented for these purposes before the competent authority or a person or persons designated by that authority. 2. An alien may be expelled before the exercise of his rights under paragraph 1.a, b and c of this Article, when such expulsion is necessary in the interests of public order or is grounded on reasons of national security.” Similarly, Article 13 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides: “An alien lawfully in the territory of a State Party to the present Covenant may be expelled therefrom only in pursuance of a decision reached in accordance with law and shall, except where compelling reasons of national security otherwise require, be allowed to submit the reasons against his expulsion and to have his case reviewed by, and be represented for the purpose before, the competent authority or a person or persons especially designated by the competent authority.” 2 European Court of Human Rights, Klass and others v. Federal Republic of Germany judgment of 24 October 1979, § 55.