CEDH · CASELAW;RESOLUTIONS;EXECUTION;ENG — 7 février 1995

.sDD6737AE { font-size:11pt } .s211D6B00 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; line-height:normal; widows:0; orphans:0; font-size:8.5pt } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial }       The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 54 (art. 54) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (hereinafter referred to as "the Convention"),        Having regard to the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in the Bouamar case delivered on 29 February 1988 and on 27 June 1988 and transmitted the same days to the Committee of Ministers;        Recalling that the case originated in an application against Belgium lodged with the European Commission of Human Rights on 2 September 1980 under Article 25 (art. 25) of the Convention by Mr Naïm Bouamar, a Moroccan national, and that the Commission declared admissible his complaints regarding his placement in remand prison and the absence of any judicial review of the lawfulness of these placements;        Recalling that the case was brought before the Court by the Commission on 16 October 1986;        Whereas in its judgment of 29 February 1988 the Court:        - held unanimously that there had been a breach of paragraph 1 of Article 5 (art. 5-1);        - held by six votes to one that there was a breach of paragraph 4 of the same article (art. 5-4);        - held unanimously that it was not necessary also to consider the case under Article 13 (art. 13);        - held unanimously that there was no violation of Article 14 taken together with Article 5, paragraph 4 (art. 14+5-4);        - held unanimously that the question of the application of Article 50 (art. 50) was not ready for decision;        Whereas in its judgment of 27 June 1988 the Court unanimously decided to strike the case out of its list following a friendly settlement between the government and the applicant according to which the government would pay 150 000 Belgian francs to the applicant;        Having regard to the Rules adopted by the Committee of Ministers concerning the application of Article 54 (art. 54) of the Convention;        Having invited the Government of Belgium to inform it of the measures which had been taken in consequence of the judgments of 29 February 1988 and 27 June 1988, having regard to Belgium's obligation under Article 53 (art. 53) of the Convention to abide by them;        Whereas, during the examination of the case by the Committee of Ministers, the Government of Belgium gave the Committee information about the measures taken in consequence of the judgments, which information appears in the appendix to this resolution;        Having satisfied itself that on 30 September 1988 the Government of Belgium paid the applicant the sum provided for in the friendly settlement,        Declares, after having taken note of the information supplied by the Government of Belgium, that it has exercised its functions under Article 54 (art. 54) of the Convention in this case.                   Appendix to Resolution DH (95) 16           Information provided by the Government of Belgium           during the examination of the case of Bouamar                   by the Committee of Ministers        The Government of Belgium considers that the measures contained in the Act of 2 February 1994 ("the 1994 Act"), which entered into force on 27 September 1994, together with the development of an appropriate infrastructure capable of taking care of severely disturbed young persons, are apt to prevent the repetition of the violations of Article 5 (art. 5) found by the Court.        According to Section 18 of the 1994 Act, which amends Section 53 of the Children's and Young Persons' Welfare Act of 1965 ("the 1965 Act"), the juvenile court may henceforth not place a young person in remand prison more than once in the course of the same procedure.   The maximum period for this provisional detention is kept at fifteen days.   Under Section 18, the application of this measure is, however, limited to persons who are suspected of having committed an offence punishable by a term of one year's imprisonment or by a more severe sanction according to the Penal Code or the subsidiary legislation, and on condition that the persons concerned have reached at least the age of fourteen at the time of the event.        Article 53 of the 1965 Act has in addition been partially abolished by the ordinance of the Flemish Community of 28 March 1990 and by the ordinance of the French Community of 4 March 1991.   Thus, it is no longer possible to order detention in a remand prison in cases which fall within the communities' competence, that is, in cases where the young person has not committed an act qualified as an offence.   The abrogation of this possibility of placement on the federal level is, however, also foreseen.   Section 19 of the 1994 Act provides that the date shall be fixed by Royal Decree.        As far as the procedural guarantees in case of placement in remand prison by virtue of Section 53 of the 1965 Act are concerned, the 1994 Act has introduced the following changes.        According to Section 16 the interested person is entitled to the assistance of a lawyer whenever heard by the juvenile court. Section 21 provides that when a person under 18 years, party to the proceedings, does not have a lawyer, a lawyer is appointed ex officio and Section 22 specifies that the parties and their lawyer shall have a right to consult the case-file, inter alia, when the public prosecutor requests placement in remand prison pursuant to Section 53 of the 1965 Act.   Section 18 provides that an appeal against a decision to place a person in remand prison has to be lodged within forty-eight hours and that the juvenile chamber of the appeal court has to render its decision within five working days from the lodging of the appeal.        As to the development of the infrastructure, six institutions have today closed sections reserved for highly disturbed young people, three in the Flemish speaking region and three in the French speaking region, offering a total of over a hundred places.