A/HRC/31/48 46. The Government also continued to build and refurbish courts and prisons, including outside the capital. In 2015, construction began on courthouses in five districts of the Kankan administrative region in Haute -Guinée. In April 2015, the Minister of Justice laid the first stone of a maximum security prison in Dubréka, 55 kilometres from Conakry. 47. In June 2015, the National Assembly adopted a law on the reorganization of the judiciary that eliminated the magistrate’s courts, assize courts and specialized courts, such as the labour tribunal and the juvenile court. The elimination of the juvenile court, which was seen as an unequivocal step backwards by juvenile justice professionals, caused indignation among human and children’s rights defenders. The law introduces the principle of appeal, including in criminal and military cases, and guarantees the right of all persons deprived of their liberty, especially pretrial detainees, to be tried within a reasonable period of time. 48. Notwithstanding the fact that some progress has been made, the justice system continues to be plagued by many deficiencies and detention conditions remain extremely poor. 49. Among the chief shortcomings in the justice sector is the nearly systematic recourse to pretrial detention. This is compounded by the infrequency of hearings (scheduled every four months) which, according to the judicial authorities, is due to insufficient financial resources and by the fact that cases are not tried in chronological order. In November 2015, because of these various factors, 66 individuals were in pretrial detention at the Conakry prison, some having been there for between 3 and 11 years. 50. The case of some pretrial detainees who have been held for protracted periods is worrying. In November 2015, staff of the country office met with two men held in pretrial detention for serious offences for more than 11 years and two ot hers held for lesser offences for 6 to 8 years, despite the fact that the limit on pretrial detention is 8 months for lesser offences, 12 months for more serious offences and 24 months for some offences (drug trafficking, paedophilia, organized crime, transnational crime and breach of State security). 51. Between July and August 2011, five soldiers were arrested in connection with an attack on the home of the President on 19 July 2011. In July 2012, the indictment chamber of the appeals court of Conakry ordered their referral to the military court, which did not exist at the time of the events and was still not functional in December 2015. In May 2015, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention requested the Government to proceed with their immediate release and to take all necessary measures to address the serious material and moral damage they had suffered, including comprehensive reparation in keeping with article 9, paragraph 5, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 7 In December 2015, the soldiers were still in custody. 52. The shortcomings of the justice system have a direct impact on the living conditions of detainees. In Guinea, places of detention in general, and prisons in particular, are characterized by narrow cells, overcrowding, lack of hygiene, undernourishment, lack of health care and the lack of physical, professional and cultural activities. In 2015, prison overcrowding rose owing to the many arrests and pretrial detentions in connection with the political and social events and the irregularity of court hearings. __________________ 7 GE.16-00828 Communication No. 20/2015, General Nouhou Thiam et al. v. Guinea, views adopted by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on 29 April 2015. 9/15