CAT/C/LVA/CO/6
guarantee the right to defence, and that indigent and vulnerable persons often do not have
access to State-ensured legal aid and are therefore deprived of the possibility of filing
complaints to the European Court of Human Rights. It is further concerned about the
continued shortage of lawyers providing State-ensured legal aid, about the quality of the aid
provided, and that their remuneration continues to be inadequate. The Committee is
particularly concerned that article 129 of the Criminal Law foresees punishments of only up
to one year of imprisonment, community service or a fine for law enforcement officers who
cause moderate or serious injuries to persons while arresting them (arts. 2, 11, 12, 13, 15
and 16).
11.
The State party should:
(a)
Ensure that all persons deprived of their liberty, including those who are
indigent and vulnerable, are afforded, by law and in practice, all the fundamental
legal safeguards from the very outset of their deprivation of liberty, including being
informed about the reasons for their arrest and the charges against them; being
informed about their rights, both orally and in writing, in a language that they
understand; being informed of their right to unimpeded access to an independent
lawyer of their choice or, if necessary, to State-ensured legal aid of adequate quality,
including during the initial interrogation and inquiry; being brought before a judge
within the time frame prescribed by law; being able to notify a family member or any
other person of their own choice of their detention immediately after apprehension;
having the right to request and receive an independent medical examination, free of
charge, including by a doctor of their choice upon request; and having their
deprivation of liberty, including transfers and injuries, recorded in registers at all
stages;
(b)
Ensure greater quality and effectiveness of legal aid, including through
annual increases in the amounts of payment for different types of State-ensured legal
aid pursuant to the Cabinet of Ministers Regulation No. 1493, and a sufficient number
of persons providing State-ensured legal aid in all parts of the country and receiving
adequate remuneration for their services;
(c)
Establish a normative framework for the effective oversight of the
provision of safeguards; monitor compliance by all public officials with fundamental
legal safeguards, including through video monitoring of all places of deprivation of
liberty and interrogation rooms; and take disciplinary measures against officials who
fail to afford fundamental legal safeguards to persons deprived of their liberty in
practice;
(d)
Amend article 129 of the Criminal Law so that officials who cause harm
to persons deprived of their liberty during their arrest and detention are criminally
prosecuted and punished with a severity that is commensurate with the gravity of
their acts;
(e)
Ensure that all persons deprived of their liberty who may also lack
resources are able to file complaints or communications with international human
rights mechanisms.
Pretrial detention, including in short-term detention facilities
12.
While noting the amendments to the Law on the Procedures for Holding
Apprehended Persons, which provide that arrested persons may be held in short-term
detention facilities for a maximum of seven days, the Committee is concerned that the Law
does not specify the maximum duration for holding detainees and sentenced persons in
short-term detention facilities; that detained and convicted persons may be held together,
including during transport; and that persons remanded in custody have been held in police
detention facilities for well beyond the statutory limit, and from two weeks to more than a
month for the purposes of procedural actions in facilities designed for shorter stays. It is
further concerned that, if necessary and upon request from the courts, the prosecutor’s
office or the State police, administratively detained and arrested persons, as well as persons
placed in detention and convicted persons, may be returned to a police detention centre for
the purposes of investigative work and procedural actions before being placed in a remand
4