A/HRC/33/50/Add.1 6. The delegation visited the Corradino Correctional Facility, the Young Offenders Unit Rehabilitation Services, the Safi detention centre situated in Safi Barracks, the Hal Far open centre, the newly established initial reception centre for minors, and the Forensic Unit at Mount Carmel Hospital. 7. The Working Group was able to visit all these places upon its request and to interview, in private, a sample of individuals, some of whom were selected by the delegation, without any restriction. III. Status of the implementation of recommendations contained in the report on the 2009 visit of the Working Group 8. The following is the analysis of the implementation of the recommendations made by the Working Group at the end of its 2009 visit (see A/HRC/13/30/Add.2, para. 79). Recommendation made in relation to criminal justice 9. The Working Group recommended in 2009 allowing access to lawyers for persons arrested on suspicion of having committed a criminal offence during the first period of up to 48 hours while in police custody. 10. According to the Constitution, police should either file charges or release a detainee within 48 hours. If the person is not released within the first six hours, the arresting police officer must inform a magistrate. At the moment of the arrest, the arresting police officer should inform the detainee of his or her right to have access to a lawyer and of his or her entitlement to legal aid. During the 2009 visit by the Working Group, access to legal counsel was permitted only after the initial 48-hour period of detention. The right to legal assistance before police interrogation is one of the basic guarantees of a fair hearing. According to article 6.1 of the European Convention on Human Rights, access to a lawyer should be provided as from the first interrogation of a suspect by the police, unless it is demonstrated in the light of the particular circumstances of each case that there are compelling reasons to restrict this right. 11. According to article 355AT of the Criminal Code of Malta, a person arrested and held in police custody at a police station or other authorized place of detention shall, if he or she so requests, be allowed as soon as practicable to consult privately with a lawyer or legal procurator, in person or by telephone, for a period not exceeding one hour (para. (1) of article 355AT). Compliance with such a request may be delayed if the person making the request is in police detention for a crime and if an officer not below the rank of superintendent authorizes such delay (para. (3)). In no case, however, shall the delay exceed 36 hours from the time of the arrest (para. (7)). 12. During its follow-up visit, the Working Group noted that, according to the Maltese authorities, amendments had been made to the Criminal Code guaranteeing that persons deprived of liberty have the right to consult a lawyer immediately after the arrest. In 2014, the Criminal Code was amended to include a provision which guarantees the right of the suspects or accused to be informed without undue delay of their procedural rights. As provided in article 534AB, these procedural rights include the right of access to a lawyer and any entitlement to free legal advice (Right to information and Letter of Rights, added by IV.2014.25). 13. Accordingly, authorities are now allowing detainees to have access to legal counsel during the 48-hour detention period and prior to initial interrogation. The detainee is currently entitled to speak to a lawyer in private, as soon as it is practicable, in person or by telephone. 5