The Pakistan Code of Criminal Procedure distinguishes between bailable and non-bailable offences. Bailable offences are less serious offences where a person has a right to bail, as long as they can meet the conditions that are attached to bail (bail conditions are discussed below). The non-bailable offences are split into two categories: (1) Offences not falling […]
The Indian Supreme Court ruled that the basic rule is bail, not jail, except where there is a risk the accused may flee from justice, interfere with the course of justice, repeat offences or intimidate witnesses.
The HRC held that “pre-trial detention should be the exception and that bail should be granted, except in situations where the likelihood exists that the accused would abscond or destroy evidence, influence witnesses or flee from the jurisdiction of the State party”.
A Ghanaian citizen was arrested in 1985 for allegedly cooperating with political dissidents and was detained without trial for 7 years until he escaped from a prison hospital. The ACommHPR held that Article 6 of the African Charter was violated as the complainant had been arrested but was not charged with any offence and never […]
The ACmHPR found that holding journalists in custody for 3 years without charges amounted to a clear arbitrary detention and grave violation of the right to liberty in Article 6 of the African Charter of Human and Peoples Rights.
“Detentions before a judicial authority in excess of 72 hours, counted from the moment the accused is presented to the authority, are prohibited without presenting formal charges indicating the crime, place, time and circumstances of such crime; as well as the evidence of the crime and of the probable liability of the accused.”
The HRC underlined that “one of the most important reasons for the requirement of ‘prompt’ information on a criminal charge is to enable a detained individual to request a prompt decision on the lawfulness of his or her detention by a competent judicial authority.”
The primary human rights treaty in the Americas, protecting rights such as the right to liberty.
In this case, the UNHRC established that the grounds for detaining a person must be clearly established in domestic legislation.
If a person is suspected of a serious offence in the UK, they can be detained for a maximum of 96 hours without being charged. However, under terrorism legislation in the United Kingdom, a person suspected of terrorism can be detained for a maximum of 28 days without being charged.
