A/HRC/27/47 immigrant must be able to apply for a remedy to a judicial authority, which shall decide promptly on the lawfulness of the measure and, where appropriate, order the release of the person concerned (E/CN.4/2000/4, principle 8). Detention must be ordered or approved by a judge or a body affording equivalent guarantees of competence, independence and impartiality (E/CN.4/1999/63, para. 69). The procedural guarantee of article 9, paragraph 4, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights requires that migrant detainees enjoy the right to challenge the legality of their detention before a court. There should be automatic, regular and judicial, not only administrative, review of detention in each individual case. Review should extend to the lawfulness of detention and not merely to its reasonableness or other lower standards of review. A maximum period of detention must be established by law, and upon expiry of that period, the detainee must be automatically released (A/HRC/13/30, para. 61). Established time limits for judicial review must be obtained in “emergency situations” when an exceptionally large number of undocumented immigrants enter the territory of a State. 41. The Working Group (A/HRC/13/30/Add.2) and the Committee against Torture (CAT/C/MRT/CO/1) have called on States parties to provide access to effective judicial remedies to challenge the legality of administrative decisions on detention. 42. The Human Rights Committee has reiterated its view that the enjoyment of Covenant rights is not limited to citizens of States Parties but must also be available to all individuals, regardless of nationality or statelessness, such as asylum seekers, refugees, migrant workers and other persons who may find themselves in the territory or subject to the jurisdiction of the State Party. This is articulated in general comments No. 8 (1982) on the right to liberty and security of persons, No. 15 (1986) on the position of aliens under the Covenant, and No. 31 (2004) on the nature of the general legal obligation imposed on States parties to the Covenant (HRI/GEN/1/Rev.9 (Vol. I) p. 179, paras. 1 and 7; p. 189, para. 2; and p. 245, para. 10). The Committee affirmed that “every decision to keep a person in detention should be open to review periodically so that the grounds justifying the detention can be assessed” (CCPR/C/59/D/560/1993, para. 9.4). 43. The Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, in his 2012 annual report on the detention of migrants in an irregular situation (A/HRC/20/24), recalled the statement of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention that there should be automatic, regular and judicial, not only administrative, review of detention in each individual case, and that review should extend to the lawfulness of detention and not merely to its reasonableness or other lower standards of review (ibid., para. 23). The Special Rapporteur recommended that Governments ensure that procedural safeguards and guarantees established by international human rights law and national law are applied to any form of detention (ibid., para. 72 (a)). Further, all migrants deprived of their liberty should be informed in a language they understand, if possible in writing, of the reasons for the detention and be entitled to bring proceedings before a court, so that the court can decide on the lawfulness of the detention. Migrants in detention shall be assisted, free of charge, by legal counsel and by an interpreter during administrative proceedings. 44. Article 16 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families sets out the right to liberty and security of person for migrant workers and members of their families and the right not to be subjected individually or collectively to arbitrary arrest or detention (paras. 1 and 4). It articulates that migrant workers and members of their families who are deprived of their liberty by arrest or detention are entitled to take proceedings before a court, in order that that court may decide without delay on the lawfulness of their detention and order their release if the detention is not lawful (para. 8). In attending such proceedings, they are entitled to have cost-free assistance to an interpreter if they cannot understand or speak the language used (ibid.). Where it has been determined that migrant workers and members of their families have 13

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