c. Compensation for wrongful pre-trial detention: In several countries across
the OSCE region, defendants wrongfully held in pre-trial detention may apply for
compensation, as is prescribed by the ECHR.272 While there is limited evidence
as to whether this lowers the imposition of pre-trial detention on suspects and
accused persons, it should incentivize courts to think about the human and
economic benefits of alternatives to detention.
d. Alternatives to Detention: Good practices in the use of alternatives can be
identified in several OSCE participating States, including, most significantly, a
substantial reliance on conditional and unconditional bail as a regular alternative to detention. One Western European OSCE participating State has also
pioneered a low-cost method of supervision via mobile phones and, in recent
years, has produced sound jurisprudence on the proportional setting of money
bail.273 In another OSCE participating State from this region, some organizations
routinely undertake risk assessments and produce bail reports in advance of
pre-trial detention hearings, in order to provide an independent evidence base
on which decisions about pre-trial detention can be taken.274 Another promising
practise was identified in an OSCE participating State where the law dictates
that, with some exceptions, pre-trial detention cannot be ordered if the judge
believes that the final sentence in the actual case will be less than three years.275
272 ‘Everyone who has been the victim of arrest or detention in contravention of the provisions of this
article shall have an enforceable right to compensation.’ Council of Europe, Convention for the
Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms as amended by Protocols No. 11 and
No. 14, Article 5 para. 5.
273 DPP v Broderick [2006] IESC 34. See also Irish Penal Reform Trust, “The practice of pre-trial
detention in Ireland”, April 2016, p. 52.
274 Fair Trials, op. cit., note 245, p. 28, para 84, referring to France.
275 Antigone, “The practice of pre-trial detention in Italy Research report”, (September 2015), p.17.
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