20 A practical guide to the Istanbul Protocol – for lawyers authority and not under the same governmental authority as the police or prison sys39 tem. Similarly, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture has stressed that detainees should have the right to access independent doctors, and should be medically examined by qualified doctors upon entering and leaving detention facilities as well as upon request without undue outside interference, such as presence of police officers.40 Regional human rights courts such as the European Court of Human Rights and international bodies such as the UN Com- mittee against Torture have also clarified the scope of these standards in their jurisprudence.41 • Identify the level of responsible authority where the denial of access originates • Rezone access with officials at the place of detention and where that fails to request authorisation from the next level of responsibility, up to ministerial level • Make written interventions with those in charge at specific places of detention requesting to be informed of existing custodial safeguards, and if no response is obtained, make a written intervention with the next level of responsibility and seek judicial review where interventions are met with administrative silence • Ensure that authorisations of access are in writing and that officials at the place of detention are notified of the authorisation • Challenge any decision that denies access to the detainee based on the fact that access has been given to another lawyer (that is not the detainees choice) • When direct interventions with the relevant authorities fail, contact the court or judge responsible and any other body that may be capable of influencing the situation and obtaining access, such as national human rights commissions, national visiting preventative mechanisms, parliamentarians, ombudspersons • Also inform international and regional mechanisms, giving as many details about the place of detention as known (see Section I.1 of the Annex and Section V, Part B in this guide) • Seek provisional measures before courts or administrative bodies on appropriate procedural requirements that should be applied when someone is detained. It is also possible to seek interim measures from regional and international human rights bodies • Seek assistance from international campaigning organisations like Amnesty International or the World Organisation Against Torture. c. Action at the national level to gain access to places of detention when access is denied Practical approaches that can be taken where national authorities deny detainees access to a lawyer of their own choice include: