E/CN.4/2002/77/Add.2 page 23 81. The process of establishing the public prosecutor’s office has already been set in motion by the Ministry of Justice, which has recruited legal scholars to fill prosecutor positions and sent the selected candidates off to be trained as judicial officers. It seems, however, that the selection process was not as transparent as it might have been, because candidates who met the criteria and held the desired qualifications were not given the opportunity to apply for these new posts. 82. According to members of the Committee responsible for giving effect to the National Charter, the rules governing public prosecutors are on their agenda. They are contemplating placing the public prosecutor’s office outside the authority of the Minister of Justice, and making it a body of independent judicial officers subordinate to the Higher Judicial Council alone. 83. It is therefore necessary to await the completion of the current reforms in order to form a true assessment of the changes now taking place. However, it is already possible to say that the placement of the prosecuting authorities under judicial control is a real step forward compared with past practice, assuming of course that judicial officers get better training and the resources they need to do their job properly, supervise the security services effectively and ensure the strict application of the law. 2. Arrest, police custody and pre-trial detention under the new provisions 84. The Working Group was particularly interested in the draft code of criminal procedure, which is of direct relevance to its mandate. The draft offers solid guarantees on the subjects of arrest and detention which may be summarized as follows: (a) Persons placed under arrest must immediately be informed of the charges against them; they must be allowed to communicate with their immediate families and secure the assistance of a lawyer from the outset. They must be brought before the public prosecutor within 48 hours; the prosecutor must question them within 24 hours and decide whether or not they should be released; (b) Persons may be held in pre-trial detention by order of the public prosecutor's office for no longer than seven days; after that, permission to hold them in pre-trial detention must be obtained from the courts; (c) In no case may pre-trial detention exceed six months; in criminal cases, the court which is competent to hear the merits of the case may exceptionally grant a 45-day extension; (d) The chief justice of the High Court of Appeal, the chief justice of the High Court, the judge for the execution of sentences and public prosecutors may inspect prisons at any time to assure themselves that no one is being held arbitrarily; they can entertain and investigate complaints from detainees; (e) Any person who learns of a case of arbitrary detention is required to bring the matter to the attention of the public prosecutor or the judge for the execution of sentences, who