E/CN.4/1992/17/Àdd.1 page 6 19. To a large extent, Dutch colonial law has remained applicable since independence and is only gradually being supplanted by new legislation. In 1981, a new code of criminal procedure was enacted, usually called KUHAP (Act No. 8/1981). À commission has been established to draft a new penal code which will eventually replace the Criminal Code of 1918 (KUHP). The Special Rapporteur was informed that the drafting process was nearly completed and that the Code would probably be adopted by Parliament in the course of 1992. 20. It is, in particular, the Code of Criminal Procedure which determines the rights of the individual during the different stages of investigation and trial. According to the Elucidation (explanatory comment) on the Code, it upholds the principle of respect for the nobility of human dignity and prestige which is also laid down in the Law on the Basic Provisions of the Judiciary Power (Act No. 14/1970). 21. Except in cases where a person is caught actually committing a crime, an arrest may only be made by a police officer upon the presentation of an arrest warrant (art. 18). The warrant must specify the suspect's identity and briefly summarize the reason for his arrest, including the crime he is suspected of having committed. A copy of the arrest warrant must be delivered to the relatives of the suspect immediately after his arrest. If a person is caught in flagrante delicto, he must immediately be handed over to the police. The Special Rapporteur was informed that this must be done within 24 hours. The arrest warrant is valid only for that period. If the police investigator is of the opinion that the suspect should remain deprived of his liberty to prevent him from running away, damaging or destroying evidence and/or repeating the criminal act, the investigator must issue a detention order (art. 21). Such an order is valid for a maximum of 20 days. If the investigator has not finalized his investigation within that period, he must ask the public prosecutor to extend the detention by a term which may not exceed 40 days. After this term has expired, detention can only be extended, by an order of the presiding judge of the district court, by a maximum of two times 30 days. The maximum period, therefore, for which a person can be detained before being brought to trial is 120 days. 22. According to article 54 of the Code, a suspect or defendant has the right to legal assistance from one or more legal advisers during the whole period and at every level of his examination. Under article 56, he is free to choose his own lawyer. If he has not chosen one, a lawyer must be assigned to him if he is suspected of or charged with having committed a crime which carries a death sentence or a prison term of 15 years or more, or if he is unable to pay a lawyer and is liable for a prison term of five years or more. Contact between the suspect and his lawyer is guaranteed from the moment of arrest and during the whole investigation. The authorities are entitled to supervise the contact without listening, however, to the content of the discussion. Moreover, a suspect has the right to be visited by his relatives and to contact and be visited by his personal doctor. Incommunicado detention, in whatever form, is ruled out by KUHAP. 23. If a person is of the opinion that he has been illegally arrested or is being kept under detention in violation of the law, he or his relatives can initiate pre-trial proceedings to have the arrest or detention declared illegal; he can also ask for compensation and rehabilitation. The judge must