A/HRC/11/5 46. The only recourse, which is still too little used in Haiti, is the remedy of habeas corpus, 5 whose purpose is to protect individual freedom. Under this procedure, which is provided for by the Constitution, an application can be made to the chief justice of the lower court to rule on the lawfulness of a person’s arrest and confinement and, if appropriate, to order that person’s immediate release if article 26 of the Constitution has been infringed. 47. The independent expert recommends that certain criminal procedures be clarified and simplified, particularly with regard to non-custodial and suspended sentences, police custody and habeas corpus, as well as the duration of pretrial detention based on the offence and the delegation of judicial powers to the criminal police. 48. In order to deal with certain cases pending with the prosecution department at the investigation stage, the Ministry of Justice and Public Safety could, by means of circulars, impose directions on the prosecution department to make it possible for any persons suspected of committing major or minor offences to be brought before an investigating magistrate within 48 hours if referral is necessary. The Ministry of Justice and Public Safety could also take steps with a view to implementation of the summary trial system with the consent of the chief justice of the lower court. It would also be possible to deal with all proceedings pending with the prosecution department within a time limit of one month by referral to an investigating magistrate, by direct order to appear in court with no preliminary investigation or by discontinuation of prosecution, or to have all cases involving detention and pending with the prosecution department disposed of by direct orders to appear if referral to the investigating magistrate is neither compulsory nor necessary. 3. Juvenile justice 49. In the opinion of the independent expert, juvenile justice is a further cause for concern. During his mission, he witnessed several instances where juveniles, in some cases young children, were remanded in custody but not brought before a judge owing to the lack of a children’s magistrate in the jurisdiction concerned. He also witnessed instances where juveniles shared accommodation with convicted or remand adults or cases involving juveniles still confined in the two youth prisons in Port-au-Prince even though care orders had been issued by the juvenile court and solutions should have been found in conjunction with the Institute for Social Welfare and Research. 50. The juvenile court in Port-au-Prince is experiencing operational difficulties but the excuses put forward to account for this irregular situation do not appear convincing. The previous Minister of Justice and Public Safety, René Magloire, had appointed youth judges in each jurisdiction. Although not yet trained, these judges can be assigned juvenile matters and, if they are not competent to pursue them, the cases are transferred to the children’s magistrate in Port-au-Prince or Cap-Haïtien. 51. The independent expert recommends that due attention be paid to the issue of youth imprisonment and that the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the __________________ 5 By way of illustration, only 46 habeas corpus petitions have been recorded, since the beginning of 2008, in the appeal court’s jurisdiction (2 in the South Department, 37 in the North Department and 7 in the Centre Department). 13