A/HRC/7/4 page 25 order the release. Consequently, they may have to keep the person in detention beyond the maximum time limit. In addition, the Working Group received information from prisoners serving their sentence, who had accrued the right to benefits such as conditional release, or had even served their prison term in full, but remained in detention, because they had no means to exercise those rights in practice. 71. In order to avoid excesses in relation to detention, the Working Group calls upon States to establish maximum time limits for pretrial detention in their domestic legislation. The Working Group is pleased to note that a number of countries to which it had paid a visit and made recommendations to that effect, have amended their respective laws to address the concern of the Working Group. 72. In this context the Working Group further urges States to take appropriate measures, if necessary, to ensure that warrants for pretrial detention clearly establish the date of the expiry of the applicable time limit. In order to prevent detention on remand or imprisonment devoid of any legal basis from occurring, domestic legislation should provide that prison authorities have the power and are obliged to release pretrial detainees or prisoners automatically upon expiry of this time limit without a specific release order by a judge, magistrate, prosecutor, or other State authority competent to order detention on remand or imprisonment, in compliance with international human rights standards the respective States have undertaken to observe. An extension of the period of detention on remand should only be possible if domestic laws complying with applicable international human rights laws allow for such prolongation, and the respective orders have been duly served on the prison authorities. 73. The Working Group also considers that it is imperative for safeguarding against the unlawful continuation of pretrial detention devoid of a legal basis or other forms of arbitrary detention and imprisonment, to have a proper written registry system in place in any detention facility, complemented by a computerized database if States so wish. Such registries should be available in any place where individuals are deprived of their liberty by the State. The Working Group would like to remind States of paragraph 7 (1) of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners which provides that “In every place where persons are imprisoned there shall be kept a bound registration book with numbered pages in which shall be entered in respect of each prisoner received: (a) information concerning his identity; (b) the reasons for his commitment and the authority therefor; (c) the day and hour of his admission and release.” IV. CONCLUSIONS 74. The Working Group welcomes the cooperation it has enjoyed from States in the discharge of its mandate, which was renewed for another three-year period on 28 September 2007 by Human Rights Council resolution 6/4. In the great majority of cases in which the Group adopted an Opinion during its three sessions in 2007, the Government concerned had provided submissions regarding the case. 75. The Working Group welcomes the cooperation on the part of Governments that extended invitations to the Group for visits. Thanks to their cooperation, the Working Group was able to visit Norway, Equatorial Guinea and Angola in 2007. The Working Group has also asked to visit